


Love Run

by PinkGold



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Maria Stark, Brock is an ass, Bullying, Established Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Jock Steve Rogers, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nerd Tony Stark, Polyamory, Punk Bucky Barnes, Romance, Secret Relationship, Tony is a Chinchila confirmed, our boys love banana cake, please enjoy this fic is my little baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22762345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkGold/pseuds/PinkGold
Summary: Run to show that love’s worth running to“How was the rest of the day?” Steve asked distracting himself from Bucky’s teasing.“I think I made a new friend. Bit of a mystery.” Bucky said, remembering Tony’s bandaged hand, “Name’s Tony, and he’s super cute.”“I think he’s in one of my history classes. Large hoodie, quiet guy?”“Yup,” he accentuated the ‘p’ with a strong pop and shifted closer to Steve, wicked thoughts taking hold of the more conscious side of his mind, “That’s him.”“Maybe we can both befriend him then, finally have a friend in common, what do you think?”“Whatever you say,” and a moment later he latched his mouth on that pristine neck, leaving marks all over it, ready to see Steve wearing a turtleneck to class tomorrow.orIn which Steve and Bucky are secretly dating and Tony is the new kid in school.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 56
Kudos: 719
Collections: Fanfics, MHEA Harlequin Hoopla Prompt Challenge 2020





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> !!!!!!!!! Finally getting to share this little baby with you guys! <3 <3 (tumblr anon, I hope you enjoy this!)
> 
> Firstly, I want to thank my beautiful beautiful graceful god-sent Beta, Swisstae <3 I love you so much, thank you for everything. And Shosh for actually being the one to inspire me into making this, giving me the idea of the jock/punk/nerd trope.
> 
> Secondly, thank everyone on the Stuckony Discord Group who cheered me and helped me get my thoughts in order, you guys mean a lot to me. :3~*
> 
> This is a part of the Harlequin Hoopla Event as well!! SuperRomance 13: jock & nerd / Romance 13: High School Sweethearts
> 
> With that all being said! Enjoy!! <3 <3

“Hey, mm, Stevie. Hey-- just, mmm” Bucky stopped Steve’s horny ass from kissing him _again_ while he was trying to have a conversation by covering Steve’s mouth with his hand. “Hear me out, you jerk.”

Steve let out an exaggerated sigh but dropped next to Bucky on his bed. He paused Bucky’s playlist, just as the calmer part of Jesus of Suburbia started playing, and rested his head in his hands, giving Bucky his full attention.

“What is it, baby?” and won’t Bucky miss being called ‘baby’ all the time. He groans internally, why is school a fucking nightmare? He studied his boyfriend, blonde hair sticking out in every direction, lips red and swollen from their previous make out session and eyes bright and fierce, just as it has always been.

“How are you feeling?” 

Steve tilted his head.

“About what?” 

“You know,” Bucky shrugged and played with the hem of his band shirt, “School starts in a week.”

Steve was quiet for a while before dropping his head to Bucky’s shoulder with a long whine.

“I’m not ready yet. Gosh, I don’t wanna go back calling you Barnes. It kills me.” 

“It’s our last year in school, Stevie, just one last time.” Bucky kissed the top of his fluffy hair. He was going to miss his boyfriend’s smell deeply rooted in him twenty four hours a day.

“We can always stop pretending.” Steve suggested. Well, more like mumbled over Bucky’s neck, already knowing the answer. This is something they’ve discussed since they’ve begun their relationship, and Bucky always had to remind Steve what the stakes were.

“I can’t risk you losing your scholarship, doll,” He wrapped his arms around Steve’s torso, “Just one more year, two semesters, then it’s off to college for us.”

“Fine. But,” Steve shuffled in bed until he was on top of Bucky again, “While school doesn’t start, lemme love you unconditionally.” 

Bucky smirked and licked his lips invitingly.

“My pleasure.” 

-

“I hate mess halls,” Clint said over the ruckus of the room. He was painting his nails black with Nat’s nail polish while stealing Phil’s chips from time to time. Not that the man minded, Bucky knew, he already got a larger portion for them to share.

Bucky swallowed and turned his attention from the other students entering the hall back to his friend.

“Yeah, they suck.” he agreed.

“You think once you enroll in the last year of this hell prison you’ll get more freedom, but no, you still gotta eat together with everyone else. Buck, there are kids lunching with us. _Kids.”_

Bucky hummed in agreement but let his eyes wander again.

“If you’re going to complain about things, Clint, at least do it with an empty mouth.” He heard Phil saying.

He let his friends fall into a friendly bickering and focused on looking around. There were a few new faces entering the hall, probably transferences from other schools. Why come to SHIELD High School, though, Bucky couldn’t begin to understand. Their school had nothing special about it, in fact, they never stood out in anything.

Aside, of course, for their football, but what good did that bring?

As if conjured from his thoughts alone, the football team started to flock in, followed close by the cheerleaders.

“Ugh,” Clint groaned, “Why do they have to walk in a pack, don’t they have individual personalities?”

Nat snorted next to him, coppery hair flowing around as she shook her head.

“I’m still not convinced they all haven’t all been cloned.” she added. Clint coughed out a laugh, choking around a piece of chips, to which Phil said a very boastful ‘I told you so’.

Bucky didn’t let their comments hurt him, he even snorted after their sassy comments, but he kept on looking as they all found a table to sit. A great thing about openly not liking a group of people is that no one questions why you keep staring at them for a long time, they’ll only think your hate is so strong that you are trying to kill them with invisible lasers shooting from your eyes. And yes, most of those cocky son of a bitches really deserved some first degree burn.

But the truth was…

“There he comes, the prince of all princes. Look at that stupid hair. Ugh, he looks like a golden retriever.” Clint said, almost sounding like he was ready to puke when Steve strolled in wearing SHIELD’s football jacket and a tight jeans.

Smoking hot wasn’t the right word to describe him. Bucky wanted to jump him there and then, but a snap of fingers brought him back to the moment.

“Earth to Buck,” Natasha said, “Stop staring at them like that, you dumbass, they might get offended.”

“Yeah? What will they do to me?” Bucky retorted, recovering quickly from his small slip, “Insult me? They know damn well they can’t lay a finger on me, and their brains are the size of a peanut, I’m sure no coherent insult would come out.”

“Roast them, that’s it!” Clint applauded while Phil rolled his eyes.

Between the four of them, Phil was the only one without an open feud with the players. He didn’t like them, but he seemed to be wise enough (maybe even more mature) than the three of them to be open about his dislikes.

“Look at that,” Nat snared, “That Wilson guy is pointing at you now, Bucks, nice job.” She gave him the thumbs up, “Probably telling their captain, oh captain that you smell like death and gore.”

Bucky huffed out a laugh, but for a different reason altogether. Out of everyone in this school, Steve was probably the person who best knew what he smelled like.

When he looked back at them, Steve’s clear blue eyes were pinning him to the table. It was so intense Bucky forgot how to breathe.

“Excuse me,” he said, getting up, “I think I need to wash my eyes now. See you guys in class.”

They all mumbled their goodbyes before he slipped out of the hall. His mind was so distant he accidentally bumped into someone, and, when he looked down to help him stand, noticed he’s never seen him around. Probably a new student. 

“Sorry ‘bout that.” he said and started moving again, not staying to hear whatever the new guy had to say.

He needed to get to their bathroom and soon. Another immediately left turn and he would be there. Steve and him had long since found the perfect spot to meet up without being discovered, a bathroom no one ever used. It was located on the third floor and was usually locked, but no locks could stop Bucky.

All in all, the bathroom was very clean, probably because no one used it. They came to call this their safe space, a piece of heaven inside hell.

He used the few minutes he had to check himself in the mirror. Black slim jeans, check. A black My Chemical Romance shirt, check. Hair in a messy bun he knew Steve loved with some locks wildly touching his face, check. Who would have thought Steve of all people would be so attracted to a punk like himself?

But it was probably more than that. They had been friends long before enrolling in school, only falling apart when their personalities took them to different roads. Bucky still blessed that one tea party their mothers prepared together that got them to start talking again.

They’ve been inseparable ever since.

The door opened and his beautiful Steve walked in, looking as edible as he looked hungry.

“C’mere.” Bucky said opening his arms and accepting Steve’s ferocious kiss with a small moan.

His big hands were traveling alongside Bucky’s chest and torso, eliciting shivers from both of them as they tried to get closer.

“I’ve missed you,” Steve mumbles into his ear before nibbling at his earlobe. Bucky let out a pleased sigh.

“It’s only the first day of school, doll.” Bucky said, rolling his eyes, but gripped the back of Steve’s jacket with no intention of letting go, “But I missed you too.”

“Are our plans for the weekend still on?” Steve asked once his more primal need to kiss Bucky had subsided.

“Gotta check.” Bucky answered, resting his head on Steve’s larger shoulders, “Clint was talking about going to his house to watch It 2, but I’ll try finding an excuse.”

Steve groaned and slumped into the white tiles on the wall next to Bucky.

“Clint hates me, doesn’t he? I will never get the approval of your friends.”

Bucky snorted and entwined their fingers.

“He doesn’t hate you, he barely knows you. I’m sure he’d love you if you guys met.” he smiled, thinking about that possibility one day, “He just thinks you have a huge wooden stick shoved deep in your ass.” 

“Oh, baby, if only he knew what goes up there.”

And Bucky can’t help the bark of laughter he let out.

They got separated after that, Steve going back to the hall and Bucky to his locker to grab his things. He’s going to English class all by himself right now, he groaned internally, already preparing himself for his worst class ever. Why didn’t his friends take this course with him? Damn Nat for taking the advanced classes.

And to top it all, once he entered the class did he notice who else was in it.

Sam Wilson. Great, awesome. Steve’s best friend.

The stupid jock rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed when Bucky dashed to the back, and he had to smother a pang of anger. Bucky didn’t hate him, not really, but his proximity to Steve made him jealous.

Steve didn’t have to pretend Wilson didn’t exist in order to have a successful school year. People seemed to like their friendship too, of course. Who doesn’t like when the two most popular kids where best friends?

Half an hour went fast by him. Everything teacher Fury said went right above him, and he was ready to bolt and never come back when Mr. Fury cleared his throat and said.

“This semester we decided to change a few things for the final project. Instead of doing them alone, we want you to choose a partner to do a twenty minutes presentation of a classic novel. Since next year most of you will be joining college, we want to prepare you for a little teamwork.”

Bullshit, Bucky groaned, he only wanted to correct less work. His eyes wandered around, not missing the stupid high five Wilson and Rumlow exchanged, to look for a fit partner for this task. If he didn’t find anyone, he’ll just do it alone and shrug when Mr. Fury asked about it.

He didn’t care about his teachers enough to be fazed by their disappointment.

A set of big, brown eyes caught his attention on the other side of the room. The guy was sitting next to the door and looking at Bucky like he was the only person in this room he actually knew, which, in Bucky’s opinion, didn’t make any sense. 

He had a messy black hair, which looked soft to touch and was wearing a too large black hoodie, although it did nothing to hide his too skinny complexion. He was ready to frown at the guy and move on with his life but, with a jolt, he remembered where he knew the guy.

It was the new dude he accidentally bumped into in the corridor.

As he looked closer, Bucky noticed a bandage peeking out from his long sleeve and a wave of guilt washed over him. Was he the one to do that? Fuck, he hadn’t seen that before, maybe he actually did that to the poor guy.

It was the guilt and the guilt alone that dragged him to the guy’s table as the rest of their classmates rose with the same purpose and made him extend a hand. 

“I don’t think we properly met earlier today. I’m James, but you can call me Bucky.”

The guy looked at him with wide eyes but shook his hand nonetheless. His grip was firm, if a little too calloused for someone their age.

“I’m Tony.” he said in a rich smart voice.

Awkwardly, Bucky pointed at his hand then, as if pointing at the elephant in the room.

“I’m sorry about that… I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.”

Tony blinked at him, confused for a minute before he followed Bucky’s line of sight.

“Ah, uh, no it wasn’t you. I know I look like I’m made of glass--don’t worry, people tell me that all the time--but it takes a lot to get me bruised.” he let out a dry laugh.

Bucky chuckled at that. At least the guy had a good sense of humor. For a moment he pondered if he should ask what happened to his hand, but let it pass. He didn’t care enough and it wasn’t his place to ask.

“So, uh, do you want to be my partner for this ridiculous work, or...?” 

“Sure,” Tony said, “I was actually going to ask you that myself,” he smiled. Bucky dragged a chair from behind him and sat next to Tony.

“What are your thoughts on Oscar Wilde?”

-

Bucky knew they determined he should never stay to watch Steve’s training, but he wasn’t there to root for Steve--who was he kidding? Of course he was, but--Clint and Nat thought it was a good idea to see how uncomfortable the players would get with their presence on the benches.

Phil decided to go home as soon as classes ended to get his semester organized. Wise move, but Bucky wouldn’t miss his opportunity of watching Steve in those tight clothes, all sweaty and dirty.

“I’m not the one to say this kind of stuff, but _damn_ they look hot.” Nat said, to which both men hummed in agreement.

The nicest thing about his group of friends was that not a single one of them was straight. Bucky and Phil were gay while both Clint and Nat were bi. He knew Phil and Clint had a thing on and off in the sidelines and frankly, he just wanted them to declare their love and finally start dating like they both so clearly want.

Nat was a mystery, as much as he was. They knew he had someone important in his life, but whenever the subject came up, he clammed up. At least Nat understood him and helped him change the subject.

“Oh, would you look at that, Rumlow just fell on his face!” Clint wheezed, holding his belly for support. Bucky let his attention fall back in the field in front of them and caught a glimpse of the man himself getting up from the ground, snapping refusals of help as he rose.

Bucky let out a chuckle, Rumlow really deserved that. Out of everyone in the team, Rumlow was his least favorite player, even Steve agreed with him. A shame he was Coach Pierce’s favorite pet.

“Ooh, look Prince Rogers is jogging while looking in our direction, that will totally pay off, oh--there you go.” Nat said, but even her tone seemed compassionate.

Steve had been so focused on them he hadn’t seen the ball flying his way and it bounced off his helmet to the other team’s hands. Bucky giggled, served him right, who in their right mind stops paying attention to a game as violent as this one?

The rest of the training went mostly like it started. Sometimes the boys would look up and be uncomfortable by their presence which made them root and scream even louder, effectively disturbing their training even more.

By the time the players went back to the locker rooms the three of them were breathless from laughing as much as they did. He walked with his friends to the parking lot and was ready to bid them goodnight when his phone buzzed with a new message.

**From: Steeb (5:54)**

Lockers in 10

And didn’t that make him thrill to the core.

“Hey, guys, I think I forgot my wallet back at the benches, I’ll go have a look. Text you later, bye!”

“Just don’t get beaten up!” Clint shouted before leaving the parking lot in his old car with Nat following right behind in her bike.

He turned on his heels and walked back the way he came, totally ignoring the way his heart was beating faster than it should. It wasn’t the first time they would be sneaking around their friends to talk in private-- _talk_ , he snorts--but it sure was the first time Bucky would be entering the football territory for a quickie.

Bucky waited until Steve sent him a positive thumbs up to open the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Steve with only his tight pants on, no shirt in sight, sitting on a bench in the middle of the room. He licked his lips and shamelessly sat on his boyfriend’s lap, Steve’s hands instantly holding him by his ass to keep him in place.

“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t come watch the practices?” Steve said, only half paying attention to his words, very much more interested in the set of lips right in front of his.

Bucky loved to tease Steve.

“It really wasn’t my idea. Clint and Nat thought it would be fun.” he nibbled the tip of Steve’s nose, watching Steve’s eyes fluttering shut.

Steve still found it in himself to hum.

“How was the rest of the day?” he asked distracting himself from Bucky’s teasing.

“I think I made a new friend. Bit of a mystery.” Bucky said, remembering Tony’s bandaged hand, “Name’s Tony, and he’s super cute.”

“I think he’s in one of my history classes. Large hoodie, quiet guy?”

“Yup,” he accentuated the ‘p’ with a strong pop and shifted closer to Steve, wicked thoughts taking hold of the more conscious side of his mind, “That’s him.”

“Maybe we can both befriend him then, finally have a friend in common, what do you think?”

“Whatever you say,” and a moment later he latched his mouth on that pristine neck, leaving marks all over it, ready to see Steve wearing a turtleneck to class tomorrow.

* * *

“So how was your first day at the new school, honey?” his mother asked once they both sat for dinner that night.

Tony held back the urge to roll his eyes. She already knew his thoughts on changing schools, but he didn’t want to get into that discussion again, not right now.

“It was good.” was all he said instead.

If he was being honest, it went better than he thought it could have gone. He got to meet two nice people in his advanced math class, James Rhodes and Virginia Potts, got thrown to the ground by a guy he later got to know as Bucky and got permission to mess around in one of the physics labs.

A victory, in Maria Carbonell’s perspective. And Tony agreed, he didn’t think he would meet people in his first day of school, but the thing was, were any of them going to stick?

Anyway, whatever, all he wanted was for this to end so that he could finally get into college like he should have one year ago.

He finished eating and quickly excused himself, locking his door and throwing himself face down in his bed.

The rest of the week went smoothly. Tony learned he had a few more classes with James and Pepper (he found out everyone called Virginia by Pepper), so they still saw each other pretty often, even ate lunch together when their time tables coincided.

But something had been bothering him lately.

He quickly learned how the school worked, who were the popular kids and who weren’t. It was a simple pattern most schools he has frequented followed, so he could stay the distance from anyone who would want to mark him as an easy target. He was a nobody. He knew three people and prefered things continued like that until the year finished.

Yet he really didn’t know why prized blond jock in his history class kept staring at him like he was someone interesting. Tony was, he knew that, and it wasn’t his ego speaking. He shouldn’t even be in school anymore, that’s how interesting he is. But he tried so hard not to stick out that whenever those blue eyes met his, he wanted to scream in annoyance.

If the guy kept looking without making any move to talk to him, Tony was sure he was going to lose his mind. But that changed right after the bell rung on Friday. 

He was putting his notebooks back inside his bag ready to go home when a huge, wide shadow absorbed him. _This was it,_ Tony thought, _this is how I’ll die._

“Hey, Tony, right?” his face contorted into that ‘I’m too cool to remember names I hope I’m right’ expression as his hand held tighter around his bag straps, both thrown over just one shoulder.

Tony nodded, his suspicion growing. Did someone bet this guy to try something funny on Tony? This never ended well.

“Oh, great,” the guys shoulders relaxed instantly, “I’m always afraid to get names wrong, I’m super bad with them.” he gave Tony a sweet smile. And damn, wasn’t that disarming? “I’m Steve, by the way.”

Steve extended a hand and Tony’s defences went up. His muscles stiffened perceptibly and he watched the hand as it hesitated back to Steve’s side.

“What do you want?” he asked a lot softer than he wished he could be.

Rule number one of any high school: never answer a football player aggressively.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked, looking genuinely confused.

“I’ve seen you staring at me the entire week.”

His eyes widened and a small blush spread over his face.

“You’ve noticed that?”

“What do you want?” he repeated instead of answering, because, frankly, that had been a stupid thing to ask, “I’m not here to be anyone’s entertainment, so if that’s what you and your mates plan to do with me, just give up.”

And he was out of his chair a moment later, already on the hallway when he heard Steve shouting his name. But he ignored it. He needed to hide somewhere before anyone saw how his hands were shaking. He never actually stood against a football player before, gosh, that had been stupid. Hopefully, there won’t be any repercussions.

Tony wasn’t looking where he was going, which was a really bad habit, when he accidentally bumped into someone.

“Hey there, Tony,” a familiar voice said with a hint of amusement, “We should really stop bumping into each other like that.”

Shit fuck fuck. Last thing he needed right now was another person’s presence.

“Let’s hope this was the last time, yeah?” he managed to say around a lump growing in his throat. He needed to get out of the corridors before Steve found him and decided to deal with him for being rude.

“Tony? Are you okay?” Bucky sounded worried.

“Yup, super fine. Just gotta. Go.” but before he could walk pass Bucky, Bucky caught his arm.

“You don’t look fine.” and oh, wow, congratulations, Bucky, so perceptive. He looked behind his shoulder and his breath hitched instantly.

Steve was coming their way with a frown on his face, he hadn’t seen them yet, but it was only a matter of time. His anxiety peaked.

“Please, I need to hide.”

Bucky sobered instantly and lead him away from the crowds until it was just the two of them in an empty corridor. Hopefully they got rid of the blond.

“What happened right there, Tony?” Bucky asked, and ugh, now he had to say it.

“I, uh, ju-just a second,” he took a sip from his water bottle, doing his best to calm down, “I’ve might have gotten myself into trouble.”

“What? How? It’s only your first week here.” his brows were knitted together.

“That’s exactly what I thought too, but I was getting ready to leave my history class and this big jock stopped me. He’s been eyeing me the entire week and today he approached. I’m super sure his mates are going to prank me.”

“Fuck, Tony, that sucks. Wait--” Bucky lifted a finger, a silent request for Tony to sit quietly while his brain worked, “History class? Jock? What did you say his name was again?”

“Steve, I think he’s the quarterback or something.”

Bucky groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was mumbling something that sounded deadly under his breath, but he quickly recomposed and looked at Tony again.

“Okay, hear me out. Steve would never do that. Trust me, he’s not that kind of person.”

“How do you know that?” Tony squinted.

“‘Cause he’s the reason bullying here almost never happens. Me and him might not get along, but I respect him, okay? If he approached to get to know you, then that’s literally what he meant. He is as genuine as he sounds. Steve might be stupid and doesn’t realize when he’s trespassing boundaries, like _spending an entire week staring creepily at someone,_ but he’s not bad.”

“Why are you defending him so much? I thought punks and jocks didn’t mix.” They never mixed, in fact. The more Bucky spoke, the more all he knew (or thought he knew) about high schools began crumbling at his feet.

Bucky’s blood left his face, but he quickly schooled his expression and took a deep breath, although he seemed less open than before.

“Like I said, I respect him. And I also don’t want you having a shitty year here in our school. Sorry for worrying.”

Before Tony could think of something to say, maybe apologize, Bucky was gone.

Down to two friends now. Great job.

-

Tony wasn’t at all expecting Steve to sit next to him on their Monday’s history class that morning. Everyone’s eyes were on them the moment Steve set his bag down, Tony’s stomach dropping with it.

“Please don’t kill me. I’m sorry about Friday.” he whispered only loud enough for only Steve to hear before their teacher closed the door and class started. He didn’t want people gossiping about him _already._ It was only his second week around here, he didn’t want to beat a personal record.

“I won’t. Stop freakin’ out.” Steve whispered back.

“I’m not freaking out.”

“Then why do you look like a very troubled, caught-in-the-spotlight chinchilla?”

“I’m-- a chinchilla? _Really?”_

“You know what? That’s really not the point,” Steve massaged his temples, “I wanted to apologize for cornering you.”

Tony frowned.

“But you did nothing wrong,” Tony said, to which Steve shook his head.

“I should have realized I made you uncomfortable.”

Both heads snapped forward as the teacher rose from his seat and cleared his throat, starting his lecture about the Cold War, or something.

Tony wasn’t paying attention, not really. His eyes kept shifting towards Steve, who kept writing down everything the teacher said. He leaned back against the wall and let his mind wander.

What could Steve possibly want with him, then?

If the other players didn’t want to prank Tony and bullying was not a huge thing around this school, what on earth did he want? 

It seemed his foolproof analysis on high school social structures was once again failing him, leaving him blind to this new development. But who was he if not someone who loved new data? Both Steve and Bucky threw him off his trails the moment they opened their mouths, and if that wasn’t a great combatant to his well known inflated ego, he didn’t know what it was.

He just knew he liked it.

So he waited, curious about this turntables, and turned off his buzzing analytical brain, ignoring completely that part of his mind that liked to calculate every outcome. Let the Stark in him on hold, leaving only Tony behind.

After the class was over, he rose from his seat and stood next to Steve’s table, ignoring the confused glances the blond shoot him.

“What classes do you have now?” Tony asked, as if a few minutes ago he wasn’t still afraid this man would punch him in the face.

“I, uh, math?”

“Oh, sweet!” Tony’s eyes shone, “If you ever need help, I’m your go to guy. Not wanting to brag but math is kinda my area.” he wiggled his eyebrows.

Steve chuckled and got up from his chair, walking side by side with Tony out of the classroom.

“And what do you have now?”

“A free period to study.” Tony said, he was probably going to the physics lab and work on his project before his lunch break. Instead of saying all that, though, he started, “Listen, about Friday.”

“Yeah?” Steve said as they left the room.

“I’m really sorry for acting like that. I know it looked really strange from your point of view, but in my experience, popular kids don’t approach you unless they want something from you, _or_ prank you.”

“Ah,” Steve said, sounding guilty, “I’m sorry, I mean, this doesn’t happen here. Bullying--I mean.”

“Yup, Bucky said you keep the peace.”

“Bucky?”

“He’s one of the punks? I’m sure you know who he is.”

“Y-yeah!” Steve averted his eyes. “We, uh, used to be best friends a long time ago.”

Tony hummed. It made sense, now that he knew this, why Bucky respected and defended Steve. Childhood friends, even when distant, have a special bound. His heart ached remembering Bruce was now far from home, already on his first year of college.

Tony should have been there with him.

He said his farewells to Steve and promptly changed his route to the physics wing, where he opened the last door of the corridor with a key his teacher gave him.

One of the reasons he got in this school was the fact that some teachers knew who he was and what he was capable of, so it was no surprise they let him in their labs without having to ask for permission. Who were they to stop science from happening?

He put his headphones on and Lungs from Florence and The Machine started playing after he opened Spotify. Tony closed the door and went to work. He took from his bag a few scraps of metal he found laying around their house and was sure they would be useful to him once he molded them the way he wanted.

As soon as he had all the tools he would be needing laying on the table in front of him, he opened the first drawer where his tech was kept. They looked like utter rubbish to a normal person, but Tony could already see what it would turn into, and that was what surged him forward with his invention.

A robot. Yeah, everyone could assemble a robot if they really wanted. But Tony had grander plans. An auto sufficient robot who could think for itself? Not that easy. Tony called his invention ‘Project Dum-E’.

He tinkered with the parts separately, taking notes and making lists of pieces he needed to find to continue assembling his baby. The physics lab was no workshop, but it was more than enough.

After what felt like seconds, his phone buzzed with an alarm he set up so he wouldn’t forget himself. He cursed, disappointed his free period ended so fast but put away his project and the tools. His mind was still traveling one mile per hour as his feet took him to the lunch hall, sitting with James, Pepper, and some other people they knew.

“So? How was your second Monday in school?” Pepper asked, having a drink of her orange juice as Tony laid his tray down.

“It was fine. Steve the quarterback came to talk to me for some reason.” and he couldn’t help giggling at the choking noises James let out.

“He _what?”_ he asked after he cleared his windpipe from juice. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little shocked.”

“You. Are horrible.” Tony stated, “I need to find new friends since the ones I have now suck.”

“Watch out, Tony, not many people will be able to follow your sarcasm.” Pepper refuted, an enigmatic smile playing on her face.

“ _Touché.”_ he said, and chuckled absentmindedly as both James and Pepper rolled their eyes mockingly. “I guess now I only have to apologize for Bucky.”

“You already got in trouble?” Pepper said, looking surprised.

“Well, no? But I think he’s pissed at me or something? And since we got an English work to do together, I kinda didn’t want him hating me or something.”

“Or something.” James wiggled his eyebrows maliciously, subtext completely implied. Tony’s face turned red.

“I should never had told you that.” Tony nudged him on his calf, but that didn’t stop James from laughing some.

“What did you tell him?” Pepper asked.

“Nothing.” Tony said at the same time James replied with a smug smile in place.

“Tony finds Bucky attractive.”

Pepper mouth fell in an ‘o’ as she looked from him to the punk sitting some tables behind him, and god, he wished Pepper was more subtle.

“Ohohoh, Tony. I’m so sorry for you.” she patted him on the arm, “Their group don’t mix with anyone. Trust me, I know.”

Before Tony could ask what she meant by that, James interrupted again.

“Pepper has a crush on Nat- _ouch!”_

She swatted James on the arm.

“Stop doing that to people.”

“Too late now, and you didn’t deny it!”

“Well, ugh, what is there to deny?” And for a moment, Tony had the terrifying feeling Pepper was going to get emotional, but she collected herself quickly, “She’s smoking hot. Can’t change my mind.”

“Not trying to.” Tony said and looked over his shoulder, noticing Bucky got up to leave. “Kay, lunch was awesome you guys, I gotta run if I want to apologize to Bucky, see you in Math later?”

“You betcha.” James waved him away.

“Hey, hold up!” Tony sprinted after Bucky as he left to the corridor. It was mostly empty, people were filtering in the mess hall, not out, so they had more privacy than inside.

“Tony, what’s up?” good, Bucky didn’t sound angry, maybe just a little confused.

“I, uh,” he catches his breath. Running after someone had never been his favorite sport, “I wanted to apologize for Friday. I’m sorry, it wasn’t my place to doubt you, you were just trying to help me.”

Bucky gave him a smile and waved his hand, washing away some of Tony’s guilt.

“No worries, but thanks, you just caught me off guard.”

Tony groaned.

“I, yeah, to switch schools so often as I did kinda make you notice a pattern in things, so I got a little confused..”

Bucky hummed and continued walking. Tony followed.

“Hey, how do you say we skip class to do some research on that English work? I’m sure Fury won’t notice.”

Tony hesitated. Mr. Fury had been one of the teachers who were against Tony getting keys to work on his own stuff on free periods. But the mischievous look Bucky was giving him got the rebel in him excited.

“If he does notice, that’s his problem.” he smirked.

“Damn right, Tony. Let’s go.”

* * *

“When are you going to tell us who your mysterious girlfriend is, Stevie?” Brock slapped him on the back with his towel after he got out of the shower, “And don’t try denying it, the love bites give it away.”

“Leave him alone, Brock,” Sam interrupted, “Don’t push it.” 

And bless Sam. Steve chuckled and shrugged, hiding his paling face over his shirt. Sam was the only member of the team that knew he wasn’t dating a girl, instead, a guy. He knew before Steve started dating Bucky how Steve had a preference in the same gender, and to have his best friend support had meant the world to him.

He’s going to be the first person Steve is going to tell about Bucky.

“It was a one time thing.” he played it off with a smirk on his face.

“You always say that.”

“And it’s always true.”

“Well, I don’t care,” Brock went back to his locker and changed the subject, “At least today those stupid punks didn’t show up to mess with us.”

“I gotta say, it was pretty hilarious seeing how distressed the entire team became,” Sam shook his head.

“Shut up, there’s nothing funny about falling face first.” 

“Of course there is, when you’re the one watching.” and a bunch of other players laughed with Sam.

“I wasn’t the only one! Remember how the ball bounced off Steve’s head? That was funny too.” Brock refuted. More laughing sounded over the locker room.

“They’ll probably come more times, though, so we better be ready.” Steve stated. It was actually something he talked about with Bucky. They both found hilarious how the team had reacted to their presence, and if that was an excuse to spend more time in the same space as his boyfriend, Steve would greedily accept.

He went home that Wednesday with the sun setting earlier than normal. Autumn was approaching rapidly, not that Steve minded, but soon they’d be conducting their training inside the gym, which always bothered him.

The thing he most liked about football was the vast open field he had to run and drain all his energy. It was somewhat freeing. But the gym took that feeling away.

But again, it was better than nothing.

After he got home and had dinner with his mom, he excused himself to do his homework, which actually meant spend hours--he should feel more guilty than he did about this--on the phone with Bucky.

He told him how Brock got embarrassed when everyone reminded him how he fell on the ground on that first Monday and they both laughed as Bucky shared Clint’s comments over the whole training.

“When are you guys going to come again? I want to be prepared.” Steve said after he caught his breath.

“And where’s the fun in that? You won’t be surprised if I tell you. And you’re cute when surprised.”

Steve snorted.

“You are such a sap.”

“And you love it.”

And Steve couldn’t deny.

“What are you doing right now?” Steve asked after a beat of silence.

“I swear if that question had come out from literally anyone else’s mouth I would call it dirty flirting. But since I know it’s _you_ I know you mean it.” Steve scoffed, offended at Bucky’s lack of faith in his flirting game, but instead of saying anything, he let Bucky answer his question, “Math.”

“Shit,” Steve groaned.

“You forgot about it, didn’t you?” He could hear the smile in Bucky’s voice.

“Maybe?”

They’ve been careful not to take any classes together, except math, because they were both failures in that subject and because no one would suspect if they took only one class together. So Math it was.

“Steve, Mrs. Hill _will_ kill you this time.”

And a second before he decided to give up and accept his death sentence something came to mind.

“Tony!” he exclaimed, opening his facebook on his notebook to see if Tony was online.

“Tony?” Bucky asked confused.

“Yep,” he said, and yes! Tony was online. He was saved, “This Monday he said he could help me with Math. I think he’s a total nerd.”

Bucky snorted.

“That’s cute.” 

“Right?” Steve agreed, typing a desperate message for Tony.

“But I’m glad you guys are talking finally. He freaked out on Friday.”

“You saw that?” 

“I was the one who helped him calm down, you doofus.” and Steve could almost see Bucky rolling his eyes. “He was on the verge of a panic attack, poor thing.” 

“Ugh I feel so bad,” he actually felt embarrassed mostly, he should have dealt with that better.

His messenger pinged with a new message from Tony saying he was free to help. Bless that man.

“Next time, try not to creepily stare at him from the other side of the room, how about that?”

Steve's head fell on the table with a loud thud.

“He told you that too?” 

“Yes, and I’m grateful for that. What the fuck were you thinking?” 

“I…” and what could he say? He was calculating the best way to approach without being too much? That kinda failed. Miserably.

“I know he’s hella cute, but keep it in your pants, Rogers.” Bucky said instead of waiting for an answer.

Steve flushed hard. Damn his boyfriend for knowing him all too well.

“What can I say? You know how much I love brunettes with smart mouths.”

“Sure, Jan,” Bucky said, and snickered right after.

“I hate you sometimes, did you know that?”

“You _love_ me.”

Again, Steve couldn’t deny. But something dark folded in his stomach. He had to know.

“Do you mind it?”

“Mind what?” And was Bucky playing dumb? Ugh, he was going to make him say it, wasn’t he?

“That I find Tony cute and…” attractive. He didn’t say it, though it was implicit.

“Steve, Stevie, my dude. Everyone with _eyes_ can see Tony is hot as fuck. I would get suspicious if you didn’t find him cute.”

A sigh of relief escaped his lips.

“Thanks, Buck. Love you, even though you are a pain sometimes.”

“I love you too.” and he knew the smile in Bucky’s face had gotten softer, “Gotta go back to my Math now, though. Hope Tony manages to help you out.”

“Maybe one day we can both study with him, what do you think?” he wondered out loud.

“That, yeah, that would be awesome. Good night, doll.”

“Good night, baby.”

-

Tony had been super helpful, it turned out.

Not only did he give Steve all the answers, but he also went through the trouble of explaining how he got to them. Steve might not have understood much, but at least he now had a foundation at where to start.

(Maybe Mrs. Hill will squint at him and get suspicious that he did well on the paper when she hands it back, but Steve didn’t care.)

He noticed, later that week, while in their shared History class, that Tony didn’t even take his notebook from his bag. Steve kept noticing for the rest of the first month of classes more than that too.

Tony was always in class _physically,_ but that didn’t mean he paid attention to whatever the teacher said. Their first exam was hovering over the horizon and Steve was getting anxious by Tony’s lack of dedication.

Maybe he didn’t understand? What if he needed help? Steve had to do something about that.

So on the Friday before after their class, Steve stopped Tony on the hallway.

“Hey, Tony.”

“Hey, big guy.” and Steve couldn’t help the stupid smile that spread over his face at the also stupid nickname.

Steve learned one of Tony’s favorite things was to give strange nicknames to people. So his friend James became Rhodey, Bucky had a collection of them but Steve’s favorite one was Buckybear, and Steve was normally Big guy, but also Cap. The only one who didn’t have a nickname, it seemed, was Pepper, because, in Tony’s words, ‘she was too scary to mess with.’

“I was wondering if you wanted to study for the History exam with me?”

“Wait,” Tony stopped in his tracks, “When is the exam?”

“Monday?”

“ _Fuck!”_ he hissed, “How did I forget about it?!” he jittered in place, eyes wide and nervous.

“Hey, relax, Chinchilla,” and he held back a laugh at Tony’s murderous glance. As soon as Tony started giving out strange nicks, he brought back the Chinchilla card because, why wouldn’t he? And now, as Tony tried his best to look anything but anxious, Steve thought the nickname fitted perfectly. “I can help you if you want? I mean, you’ve been helping me with Math, it’s the least I can do.”

That is how they both ended sitting on an empty table in the library, their textbooks and references lying all over the top. Tony was a good listener, it seemed, when his attention was in the right place. Steve found once he got his attention nothing stopped them from focusing, except, maybe.

“Buckaroo! Hey!” Tony waved excitedly --probably ‘cause they’ve been sitting for the last hour and a half--as Bucky and Romanoff entered the library, Biology textbooks in hand.

Bucky had told Steve earlier that morning he’s been getting nervous about his upcoming exam. Biology was one of his favorite subjects so the pressure he set on himself was even higher than normal.

Steve had tried to reassure him but he knew the only way Bucky would calm down would be by studying. He didn’t know he would be going to the library that afternoon, but it was a nice surprise. In fact, he was so surprised he didn’t notice them approaching the table.

“What is it, Rogers, is it so shocking seeing me in a library?” Bucky mocked, and Steve rolled his eyes, doing his best to hide his smile behind his fingers as he scratched his face.

“Never been so far from your natural habitat, I see.” Steve retorted with the same stupid mocking tone they skilled. Romanoff was ready to say a few words herself when Tony raised a hand, shutting everyone up.

“Can’t you guys be amicable for at least an hour? I _really_ need Steve’s help right now.” 

Tony was no idiot, he caught up with everyone’s disagreements in less than three weeks just by observing and asking a few questions, so he knew what he was talking about when he spoke. Steve looked around at the other tables, all full of other desperate students, probably losing their minds over their own exams.

Steve let out a sigh and forced to relax.

“Why don’t you guys sit with us? There’s still space here for you.”

“No way,” Romanoff said, grimace almost a part of her natural expression now.

“There’s no other table free, so unless you prefer sitting on the ground, our table is open to you.” Tony snapped. Poor guy. He had nothing to do with this bickering they had. Romanoff felt the same, judging by how her face softened a little on the edges as she looked at him.

Steve learned, from Bucky, of course, Barton, Romanoff and Collins had instantly taken a liking on Tony, so he was their new protegee in school. Like a baby punk, if you may. Not that Tony _was_ a punk, but they considered him a friend, along with Tony’s own friends.

Steve couldn’t stop comparing their relationship to an old Italian mafia: a friend of a friend is also my friend. So Pepper and James were also new recruits of their punk gang. Although that didn’t work for Steve in particular, of course, their rivalry was older than Tony and Bucky’s friendship.

Not to say his own friends didn’t like Tony, of course. Sam at first thought he was an arrogant little shit, and, to be honest, he wasn’t completely wrong. But with time he warmed up nicely. They quickly bounded over the Geography class they had together and learned they have the same awful taste in jokes.

The other players were indifferent. Well, Brock didn’t like Tony. But that didn’t matter, Steve didn’t like Brock that much either.

All in all, it was nice to have a friend that wasn’t a sport fanatics or a secret punk boyfriend.

A boyfriend who was at that same moment sitting next to him. Steve stiffened, trying his best to ignore the little lock of hair that fell over Bucky’s features. Their eyes met for the breathest of seconds and the moment’s exhilaration took his breath away.

“So,” Tony brought Steve’s attention back to himself, “What were you saying about Khrushchev?”

And like that, the four of them fell back into their respectives studies.

* * *

“Tony, hey, Tonyyyyy.” Buck whispered loud, shamelessly in the middle of Fury’s lecture. He saw Tony’s eyebrow twitching in annoyance, yet he continued to ignore Bucky. Tony had once more shown up to class with a bandage on his hand. It was infuriating, because whenever he asked about it, Tony shrugged and said it was nothing. 

It didn’t look like it was nothing. But who was Bucky to push it?

Since Tony wasn’t making things easy on him, Bucky had to resort to drastic measures. He crumpled a small piece of paper from his notebook, aimed his target, and threw the paper right on Tony’s ear.

Bucky covered his mouth as he shook, silently laughing at the way Tony jumped from his seat. Fury eyed them suspiciously before continuing his lecture, pretending nothing happened.

_“What is it?”_ Tony asked in hushed tones.

Bucky slipped him a piece of paper and waited patiently as Tony scribbled something next to his question. And by patiently he meant picking at his nails while his leg shook under the table. 

Tony gave him the paper back.

_B: Wanna go out tonight? The guys wanted to catch a movie._

_T: Can’t, Peps and Rhodey invited me to hang out._

He frowned and wrote another note.

_B: Invite them too._

_T:... I’ll ask them later._

And Bucky beamed, winking at Tony before turning his attention to class, and Fury once again eyed him disapprovingly.

After the bell rang signaling the end of the day’s classes, Clint, Nat, Phil and Buck waited for the trio in the parking lot.

To their luck, while they waited, the football team jogged past them, probably doing some warm ups before the training. 

And Rumlow, like the dick he was, bumped his shoulder against Bucky’s. His blood boiled, but before Bucky could do anything about it, Steve caught Rumlow by his bicep in a strong hold.

“What the fuck was that, Brock?”

“It was an accident,” he said, but the smirk on his face was nauseating. Steve didn’t buy it.

“Don’t be stupid, you jerk.” 

“Jesus, calm down, it was just a bump on the shoulder.” Rumlow freed himself from Steve’s grip with a sharp tug, staring at him defiantly before joining their teammates on their sprint.

Steve was left behind, a hand covering his eyes as he recomposed. The look he gave Bucky felt genuine after his hand fell from his face, and Bucky’s heart went to his throat. Steve seemed to remember himself, though, so he recomposed quickly.

“Barnes,” he said with a nodded, “I’m sorry about that, won’t let it happen again.”

“Thanks, Rogers,” his voice was distant and cold, but he ached to give Steve his warmest kiss and smooth that frown from his face.

“Out of all of them, Rogers, you are the best one.” Clint added, and only now did Bucky notice how his friends had all grown defensive.

Steve’s eyes shone then, only for a moment, but Bucky was sure Steve would be calling him later to talk about Clint’s compliment, even if it wasn’t really one.

The quarterback was gone without another word.

A few minutes later and Tony came panting with Pepper and Rhodey behind him.

“Sorry,” he breathed out, “Teacher didn’t let us leave before finishing an assignment.” 

Nat gave him a friendly punch on the arm on the arm and went to her bike.

“No worries,” she said, “We just got here ourselves.”

A lie, but if that was her strange way to protect the trio from their stupid fight with the jocks, Bucky wouldn’t blame her.

-

They ended up watching Frozen 2, which, Bucky admitted, wasn’t _bad,_ but not what he was expecting either. Pepper seemed to agree with him.

“They promised me the gays, where was it?” she exited the theatre, drinking angrily the last of her coke.

“I _know,”_ Bucky agreed, “Super unfair.”

Clint, who had been complaining from the moment they decided to watch Frozen 2, groaned.

“Let’s just forget about it, yeah? Why don’t we go to the arcade?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Nat spoke up for the first since the movie started, and Bucky couldn’t tell if that was because she enjoyed it or nah, but from the look Tony and James exchanged as Nat spoke, they knew something was up.

“Yes, good idea,” Pepper nodded, “Anything to clear my mind from the queerbait.” 

Nat snorted, shaking her head at Pepper fondly.

“Sure,”

_Oh,_ that was new.

Bucky added that information to his list of things he had to go back one day and lead the way. A second later, Tony was on his side.

“I’m going to beat you in every game, Tones,” he teased.

“Oh, but you are so wrong,” and something in Tony’s eyes shone darkly.

And Bucky was indeed wrong. Fuck this shit.

Tony was such a good player --literally, you could give him any kind of game and he would beat you-- it was embarrassing for Bucky (who kept losing miserably).

“Yes, take that, Buckybear! Suck it!” Tony celebrated after beating Bucky once again in a pinball game. Bucky rolled his eyes but didn’t feel like surrendering yet.

“I bet you can’t beat me in the next round. Gonna eat dust, you slow fuck.”

He lost again.

“Just give up,” Tony said with a smirk after the fifth round.

“Maybe if we play another game…”

But whatever it was, Tony won.

“You’re cheating. You can’t win this much.” Bucky pointed a finger at his smug face.

“It’s called being good.”

“You _bitch.”_

But whatever anger he felt dissipated quickly once Tony started laughing freely, until tears were cornering up in his eyes. It was gorgeous.

Bucky had an idea.

“Maybe we can pair up and beat their asses. What do you say?” 

Tony looks at him with that same glint on his eyes as before.

“Oooh, now we’re talking.”

So they set an entire scheme of competitions in teams of two, Bucky and Tony, Nat and Pepper and Phil and James. Clint stepped back on that one, saying he would much prefer being a judge.

Needless to say, they won every round. James and Phil, the losers, had to make crows made out of napkins for the kings of the arcade. Bucky and Tony accepted their crows and celebrated their victory.

The smile never left Tony’s face.

-

**To: Steeb (10:34)**

You free right now? 👅💦

**From: Steeb (10:36)**

Sup? I’m in the library. Tony’s helping me with Math.

**From: Steeb (10:36)**

Why don’t you join us? There’s not many people around and I know you need help too.

**To: Steeb (10:40)**

Omw

-

Bucky cleaned his hands one last time on his dark jeans and pressed the doorbell. The door opened a moment later and a woman, dark hair and same chocolate eyes as Tony welcomed him.

“You must be Bucky, correct?” she asked with a smile on her face, stepping aside to let him in.

“Yes, nice to meet you ma’am.”

“Please,” she dismissed him, “Maria is fine. Tony’s in the kitchen, first door on your right.” 

“Thanks.”

Winter break was almost arriving, Bucky couldn’t help but bitterly notice how everyone seemed to be already setting up their Christmas decorations. And Thanksgiving had barely even ended. People were nuts, in Bucky’s opinion.

At least Tony’s house wasn’t already full of snowmen and Santa Clauses and stupid socks hanging around everywhere like his own. Bucky thanked whatever god was up there for this small mercy as he made his way towards the kitchen.

They finally decided what book to use on their work: _The Picture of Dorian Gray._ Bucky never read it, but he remembered some scenes from the movie that one time Steve had forced him to watch.

Of course, he barely paid attention to the TV.

“Heya, Tones.” Bucky waved to his friend sitting in the marble counter, and _damn,_ wasn’t his house elegant?

“Hey! You arrived early.” Tony looked up from the timer he had in his phone and to the oven and then carefully at Bucky. Was he baking?

“Did you bake me a cake?”

Tony’s face heated up instantly. He frowned and tried opening his mouth a few times to explain, but nothing came out aside from a few feeble noises.

“I like baking, okay?”

Bucky chuckled, a warm feeling settling in his gut.

“You are so sweet.”

“Ugh, get out of here. My room is the second door up the stairs. I’ll be up when this is ready.”

“I can’t wait to taste your cake.”

“Go. _Now.”_

Bucky climbed the stairs giggling at Tony’s reaction.

Tony’s room was simple, Bucky realized once he was in. He dropped his bag next to the bed and gave the room a one over. It had a nice red pallet, light red walls, almost bordering a salmon pink in contrast to deep red sheets and pillow cases. The floor was a rich light hardwood that matched his desk and shelves.

Speaking of shelves, Tony had a set of prizes on the top shelf. Robotic prizes, Bucky read as he took a step closer. Under the row of prizes, sat an enormous amount of physics, math and robotic books. Bucky could barely understand half the titles.

Damn, Tony was smart as fuck.

Scattered over these, laid a few more popular novels, from classics such as _Hamlet_ and _Notre Dame de Paris_ to _Harry Potter_ and, was that _Red White & Royal Blue? _

Before he could investigate further, he heard steps coming up the stairs.

“I got you some water too. Hope you like banana cake.”

Bucky’s stomach growled in response, which was answer enough for Tony, who smiled and set the tray down on his desk.

“I got Dorian Gray somewhere over here…” Tony said, climbing on his chair and reaching for the shelf Bucky’s been studying. “Aha!” he jumped to the ground and gave Bucky one of the two books in his hand.

“Why do you have two?”

Tony blushed.

“I really like this book, okay?”

Bucky snorted and swatted the book against Tony’s shoulder.

“You’re such a dork.”

“Better a dork than a chinchilla.” Tony muttered, sitting on his chair and resting his feet on his bed. Bucky sat on the bed, reclining against the wall while frowning in confusion.

“Chinchilla?”

“Oh, shit, didn’t mean to say that out loud,” and _gosh_ he looked so cute when embarrassed, “Steve calls me a chinchilla.”

“That’s. Adorable.” Bucky couldn’t help saying. He made a mental note to thank Steve for the nickname later and pulled his phone from his jeans, smiling mischievously.

“What are you doing?” Tony asked seriously with a hint of panic sprinkled over it, but how could Bucky take him seriously when he looked like an overgrown beet? So cute.

“Just changed your name to Tony plus a hamster emoji.”

“Oh no you _didn’t!”_ he jumped on the bed and tried to grab the phone from Bucky’s hand. Luckily, Bucky’s arms were longer and stronger than Tony’s, so he managed to keep his phone away from those desperate fingers, “ _Gimme that!”_

Bucky laughed uncontrollably with Tony on top of him, looking like he was ready to commit murder, which, in Bucky’s opinion, made the situation ten times funnier. 

This close to his friend, Bucky couldn’t help but notice a set of freckles that ran over his face, and how smooth his skin looked. He caught himself before he could caress those sweet cheeks, but that didn’t stop his heart from beating faster.

Fuck.

“Give up, you little chinchilla, it’s too late now.” he said, boxing that new discovery so he could panic over it later, “Why don’t we go back to what we originally came here for?”

Tony gave him one last pout but sat back on his chair, and Bucky ignored the coldness that now spread where Tony’s body once was.

They went silent after that, both deep in their own respective books and chewing on their own slices of the banana cake (Bucky would beg for Tony to make him a bigger batch later). Bucky remembers some of the things that were happening in the book from the movie, but the book sounded a lot gayer than he remembered.

“How didn’t people notice how gay this book actually is?” he asked at some point. He was now lying on bed, arms holding the book over his face.

“People seem to _love_ pretending there aren’t gays in the world,” Tony answered, still concentrated on his book.

Bucky groaned.

“I hate that. I want to punch every het in the face.” 

That got Tony to look at him.

“You mean you’re not straight?”

Bucky shook his head.

“A hundred percent gay, baby. I’m actually offended you had to ask,” he scoffed, mock hurt, “And you?”

Tony averted his eyes back to his book, but still answered.

“I’m bi.”

_He’s bi, which means he likes dudes too._ His heart leaped, cheering with the new discovery.

“Cool!” and maybe he sounded a little strained and a little over enthusiastic but Tony gave him a small intimate smile and Bucky knew right there that there was no turning back. He had a crush on Tony.

Well, fuck him sideways.

-

Bucky didn’t let that new discovery haunt him. Not at all.

Nope. He did not.

But Tony was everywhere, and it was difficult not to look at someone when the person is at every turn you take.

Worst is when you just find out you have a crush on them.

Bucky was doomed.

But at the same time, he didn’t want to act strange about it, so he continued inviting Tony and his friends to hang out. Clint, Phil and Nat loved them, so what _could_ he do? And it wasn’t as if he wanted Tony away, no. It was just difficult to take his eyes off of him.

Tony was an intelligent guy, he would catch up soon if Bucky didn’t stop stealing glances every so often.

It was on a Tuesday afternoon, right after lunch break when Nat stopped him.

“It’s so obvious it hurts.”

“What’s obvious?” he asked, fearing he might know her answer.

“Your crush. On Tony.”

Doomed. He _really_ was.

“Well, I don't bother you when I see you eyeing Pepper, do I?”

She squint.

“That’s ‘cause you fear me.”

“Maybe so. But I still don’t.”

Nat huffed out something that sounded like ‘fair enough’ and crossed her arms.

“What about your boyfriend? Did you guys break up? What’s the deal?”

“What?” Bucky frowned, “We’re still very much together.”

“Have you told him about your new crush?”

“Listen,” it was his turn to cross his arms. He’d never seen Nat ask that many questions about his love life. It’s always been a mutual agreement they had. He didn’t talk about his, and she didn’t talk about hers. Easy. “I still didn’t have the time to talk about it with him, but I’m a thousand percent sure he understands. He and I? We trust each other. I would never betray him, and he wouldn’t either.”

She didn’t answer right away, but after a moment of silence, Nat nodded and uncrossed her arms. 

“Just don’t do anything stupid, Barnes."


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh!! looks who's late for their own party? me!! :'(  
> I was going to post this on monday but i was stuck in trafic coming back from the beach and then editing took a while cause I'm too lazy to reread my own shit BUT HERE WE ARE! <3 <3 
> 
> Thank you guys so so so much for your comments and love <3 you guys really make my day! 
> 
> With that all being said, hope you like this new chapter! Third one comes next Monday!

Fuck. Bucky really knew how to be an inconvenience when he wanted.

The entire football team had been on the edge for the last couple of weeks before the winter break. They managed to get to the finals of the season’s high school competition and in a week, they would be playing against a very strong team.

Coach Pierce added three more training days on the week so they would be extra prepared. Steve was completely focused on this. All his exams went by already, he did fairly well on them (thanks to Tony) and he had nothing on his mind to bother him from their training.

Except, of course, Bucky.

“What?” Brock almost threw his hands up dramatically, “Why are they multiplying?”

Steve snapped his head up, not only to see Bucky with both Romanoff and Barton, but also James, Pepper and Tony sitting on the benches. Steve wanted to scream.

If he squinted, he was sure he could see the smug smirk on his stupid boyfriend’s face. His eyes wandered to Tony next to him, and from where Steve stood, he saw nothing but pure curiosity in his expression.

Gosh, he hated how much that suited him. 

Needless to say, training was a disgrace. Mostly from his part, but he caught Brock swearing under his breath too, along with a couple of other players. Coach was not in the slightest happy about it, but then again, he was never happy about anything.

After Steve showered and readied himself, he read the messages on his phone.

**From: ChinchMan (3:43)**

Bucky dragged us to your training, said it was funny seeing the team stressed out, I’m sorry

**From: ChinchMan (3:57)**

I take it back, this is hilarious

**From: Bunny Bucks (3:50)**

Tony’s having a blast, please continue being awkward on the field, this is so fun

**From: Bunny Bucks (3:52)**

Also, I love you and I know you are stressed about the game, hope our goofiness helped a little

**To: Bunny Bucks (5:01)**

Your messages did 💕

**To: ChinchMan (5:04)**

You guys are huge nerds

He put his phone down just in time to catch Sam leaving the locker-room.

“Sam, wait.” he grabbed his shoulder before his friend could open the door. Sam was tense, they all were, and he sure as hell had Bucky to blame. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to throw himself on his bed and take a hundred years nap.

Yet he still smiled. “What’s up, Steve?”

“I was wondering if you needed any help with the preparations for the party.”

Sam snorted, shook his head, and looked at Steve with disbelief.

“Dude, relax. Winter break starts next week, just-- calm down. The party is only on the New Year’s Eve.”

“That’s in two weeks.”

“I’m sure I can handle that, Steve. I know you care too much about us, but use this time to treat yourself, okay? Then come to the party just as a guest. Lemme take care of things for once, yeah?”

Steve reluctantly accepted that, got a pat on his shoulder from Sam, and was left alone in the locker-room, wondering if Bucky was still around somewhere.

-

Steve breathed deeply, relaxing in bed as the endorphins from their late night activities kicked in. The snow was falling softly outside, but there, in his bed snuggling closer to Bucky, Steve felt warm.

Winter break had arrived faster than Steve realized. Their school won the season’s football games, they took home a new prize to embellish the corridors. His team seemed happy and ready for a time out, to rest and get ready for their annual New Year’s party in Sam’s house. Everyone was invited.

Last year Steve got so drunk he found Bucky and managed to take him upstairs--with very wobbly feet--to Sam’s room and shove his tongue inside his boyfriend’s mouth as the fireworks started.

Very romantic.

Bucky turned in his embrace, a tired smile plastered on his face as he left a series of sweet kisses along Steve’s jaw. He loved these quiet moments with Bucky, where they could be who they were without having to check the clock every two minutes, where they were relaxed and they didn’t need to look behind them, fearing being caught.

Although the adrenaline that came with almost being caught was something Steve could never get enough. Especially now that they had a little ‘truce’ orchestrated by Tony’s presence in their lives.

He could never thank his Chinchilla enough.

“Hey, Stevie,” Bucky started, voice still a little rough from before. “I need to tell you something. Promise me you won’t freak out?” Bucky searched Steve’s eyes as he troubled his bottom lip between his teeth.

“...Okay, but know that I wouldn’t think of freaking out if you hadn’t mentioned it.”

Bucky sighed and averted his eyes.

“I have a crush on Tony.”

Steve’s laugh rumbled deep on his chest, but it died when he saw Bucky’s frown.

“Weren’t you the one who told me it would be strange if we _didn’t_ have a crush on Tony?”

The way Bucky’s eyes enlarged should be funny, but it scared Steve.

“What? No! I said he’s hot, not that we should have a crush on him.”

The words slowly sank in.

“Oh, well, fuck me, then.”

“You too?”

“I mean,” Steve started, curling a lock of Bucky’s long hair with his finger, “Tony is so lovable.”

Bucky groaned and hid his face over Steve’s chest, but still nodded in agreement.

“We are so screwed, Steve, what should we do now?”

“Maybe we should just ignore it and let it die? I don’t want to lose his friendship.”

“That’s a great idea, doll.”

“It’s going to pass soon, isn’t it? We only know him for like, five months, it’s going to go away.”

-

It most definitely did not go away.

The New Year’s party arrived in a blink of an eye, and Steve dazzled around people drinking, dancing and laughing with the beat of the loud music reverberating all around.

Sam was by his side most of the night, a little too drunk, if Steve knew his friend, which he did.

“See that handsome man right there? He’s been eyeing you the entire night, Steve, go get him.” he stage-whispered, and Steve would be more concerned about it if the music wasn’t loud enough to muffle whatever Sam said.

“He sure is,” Steve said indifferently, still eyeing the door for the moment Bucky was to arrive.

“Quit being a coward and go get him!”

Steve repressed a sigh. He was too sober for this.

“Why don’t you go? He seems to be eyeing you just as much.”

Now, Sam never showed any interest in men, but they were in high school, people were naturally repressed to survive. So he wasn’t surprised when Sam tilted his head in thought and nodded a moment later.

“You know what? I just might.”

And with that, Sam stumbled his way towards the guy, whose face lit up the moment Sam sat next to him, leaning in with all the flirtatious moves of a drunken duck. Steve laughed and let his friend have his fun.

He made his way to the kitchen to grab another beer, waving and smiling to the people around him. Steve didn’t mind being this popular, he really didn’t. People were great to talk to. Yes, there were some that still needed to grow up, but he normally stayed away from them.

“Hey, Steve.” Someone said next to him as he closed the cooler, now with a cold beer in his hands. When he looked up he was surprised to see Tony also holding a beer, leaning on the countertop.

“Tony! I didn’t know you would be coming!” He made sure to invite him a thousand times before the semester ended, and a few times over facebook, but Tony always seemed a bit unsure while answering.

He knew Bucky also tried getting their friend to come, but he had the same response.

Still, he was glad Tony came.

“Yeah, well, mom went out with some friends, I didn’t want to spend the New Year alone,” he shrugged and looked down. Steve frowned. Something was wrong. Tony’s voice was lacking its usual enthusiasm and snark.

When Tony didn’t look up or say anything else like he normally did, Steve panicked.

“Well, I’m glad you decided to come,” and he was. His heart was still beating fast at the fact Tony indeed came to the party. Steve squeezed Tony’s shoulder reassuringly, which got Tony to look at him again. “Are Pepper and James around?”

Tony shook his head.

“Pepper is arriving late and Rhodey is with his family back in Maryland.”

“Oh, damn,” Steve looked around. He knew Tony didn’t interact much with the other students, he normally made himself invisible. Maybe he prefered it that way, who knows. Steve knows not everyone is like him and doesn't mind being in the center of attention from time to time. He knows Bucky hates it, for one. “What did you say your mother works with, again?”

So for the next half an hour he got Tony to talk more about his life while they drank too much beer and laughed about the most cheesy things.

“You don’t have to keep me company because you feel guilty that I don’t have any friends, Steve.” Tony said after a while as there was a pause in their conversation.

That got Steve off guard.

“What? I’m not.”

Tony snorted.

“Don’t lie, I’ve seen you looking around like you wanted to be anywhere but here.” 

Steve blushed. He was indeed looking around, but not because he wanted to stop talking with Tony, but because he was waiting for Bucky to come through the door. And where did that insecurity come from? Tony never acted like that before. His concern only grew.

“Of course not. I love spending time with you,” a fact.

“Yeah, sure. Okay, I’ll just go to the bathroom. Be right back.” but something in Tony’s voice made clear he wasn’t coming back.

Steve’s heart painfully constricted in his chest. Didn’t Tony like spending time with him? Or being seen together with him? He never thought about that, he actually never thought much in general about his friendship with Tony. He always just figured their friendship was mutual, but what if Tony only stands him because Steve helps him with History?

But that couldn’t be it, right? They’ve done so much together already. Tony has been to his house before, they watched movies together, damn it.

And that time they went to eat ice creams with Sam even though it was below freezing? Tony had had a laughing fit at Steve’s reaction as his brain froze to death.

Maybe Tony just wanted to be left alone today. He did look like he wanted to be far away from this place. Steve couldn’t blame him, it was very noisy.

When ten minutes had passed and no sign of Tony coming back, Steve sighed resignedly and locked himself in the nearest bathroom. He pulled his phone out and tapped a new message to Bucky.

**To: Bunny Bucks (11:29)**

You guys arriving? I miss you

**From: Bunny Bucks (11:31)**

Just got here. Same place?

**To: Bunny Bucks (11:31)**

Meet you in the hallway

Steve finally breathed freely once he got away from the pile of people on the first floor. Here on the second, the music was only a low muffled beat and Steve could hear his thoughts again. 

The second floor was off limits for the party, but since Steve knew Sam’s house like his own, and he was not nearly drunk enough to break anything, he decided it was fine if he broke that rule. Again.

“Hey, there, handsome,” Bucky’s voice sounded behind him, and a second later, his arms hugged him from the back. Steve instantly melted.

“Hey, baby.” Steve leaned against Bucky’s chest, “How was ditching your friends?”

“Easy, they saw the booze and it became a ‘every man for himself’ kinda situation.” Bucky scoffed, “Savages.”

Steve chuckled softly and started guiding them forward to Sam’s room, where they could hide on the balcony.

But as soon as they stepped in the room they knew they weren’t alone. A dark figure moved slightly on the balcony, and Steve let out a sharp breath as Bucky disentangled himself from Steve.

His blood pumped nervously. If they got caught together, the secrecy they built in the last two years would crumble to the ground.

The person stopped moving when they heard Steve’s loud intake of breath, and well, shit, it was his fault. But familiar dark brown eyes stared at them as the person’s head appeared behind the glass door and curtains.

“Tony,” Steve relaxed again. Not completely, if he was honest. Tony was still eyeing them expressionlessly, but it was nice to know Tony was still in the house. “What are you doing here? It’s off limits.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at him and silently directed the same question back to him, but shrugged, expression momentarily turning guilty, probably because he felt like that for leaving Steve alone in the kitchen, before he answered.

“I’m hiding.” Tony’s voice was a little too loud. Drunken loud.

“From who?” Bucky asked.

“Everyone.”

But to Steve’s relief, Tony nudged his head for them to join him out there, which meant they weren’t ‘everyone’ and that (probably) Tony didn’t mind Steve’s presence as much as he thought he did.

“I figured a long time ago you guys don’t hate each other.” Tony finally acknowledged that the two walked in the room together, but didn’t say more than that.

They sat next to him on the balcony, and Steve was amazed by the amount of beer cans, full and empty ones, lying around Tony. It concerned Steve.

The three of them fell into a comfortable silence, looking out at the starry sky, watching as the stars blinked down at them like frozen crystals. At least, as they huddled close together, the cold of the outside air didn’t seem to affect them.

“What’s wrong, Tony?” Bucky asked, breaking the icy silence.

“It’s just-” his face contorted as he tried to find words through the alcohol haze. Steve was sure he would never be telling them this if it wasn't for the alcohol, and he didn’t want to trespass, but Tony seemed to be lonely- “I wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“Here as in Sam’s house?” 

Tony shook his head at Steve’s question.

“Here as SHIELD High School.” He hugged his knees, “I was supposed to be in college by now.” and as he complained and mumbled, something changed in his posture, something stiffer made its home on his shoulders, something that wasn’t there before, “I’m sorry, you guys don’t have anything to do with this. I’ll shut up.”

“None of that,” Bucky said with a concerned frown, “We are here to listen, Tones.”

He seemed to ponder that for a brief second before giving up.

“I got in Harvard last year, which wasn’t really a surprise to me.” he pointed at his own head, “Big brains and all that.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and smiled.

“But what happened?” Steve asked.

Tony shrugged, fiddling with the beer can in his hands.

“Mum didn’t want that. Said it would be bad for me, for my growth. She and dad fought, and--” he curled into himself, “One thing led to another and they are now divorced, and father lives far away now.”

An icy silence followed Tony’s words.

“I should be celebrating the New Years in Harvard with my new college friends.”

Steve didn’t let Tony’s statement get to his heart, he didn’t mean them, not specifically, he meant in general.

Right?

He said the first thing that came into his mind.

“Seems like your dad isn’t a great dude, though.”

Tony snorted, taking another gulp of his bear.

“He wasn’t. All he wanted was to drag me around like a walking prize. And I let him, for a long time. But mum stood her ground, just when I finally agreed with him for the first time.”

Tony’s head fell, and Steve could see Bucky from his other side. When their eyes locked, Steve saw, mirrored on those perfect, greyish blue eyes, the same concern and ferocity as in his. Bucky nodded, not needing to share words with Steve, and wrapped an arm around Tony’s smaller shoulders.

“I for one am glad you didn’t go to college. We wouldn’t have met you that way.”

He was not expecting Tony’s eyes to widen as much as they did, nor the way his mouth fell into a soft gasp.

Steve scooted closer as well, arms touching arms, legs touching legs. The cold air felt far away now, with Tony between them both and slowly accepting their warmth.

“Thank you, guys. I mean it.” Tony’s smile was so intimate, Steve’s heart almost gave out.

Once again, his eyes met Bucky’s, and once again, he saw in them the exact same thing he felt.

They were both falling in love with Tony.

* * *

Tony knew he was ignoring them.

And shouldn’t he?

It had been a bad idea to become friends with them in the first place, he should have been content with Pepper and Rhodey, and maybe also Nat, Phil, Clint and Sam.

But Steve and Bucky?

They smelled like danger, like they were up to no good.

Not that Steve _was_ up to no good. Tony had never seen someone as uptight as Steve. But there was a glint of _something_ in his eyes, and Tony couldn’t look away.

So, instead, he was physically distancing himself from whatever situation that he could possibly interact with Steve and Bucky --aside from classes, of course.

He spent more time in his improvised lab and less in the library, where he was sure he would find one or another, if not both, at some point. Dum-E was already halfway done. Well, his base was already built, now he had to do the rest.

Tony shouldn’t be indulging himself with Steve and Bucky, they wouldn’t be good for his future. But…

“Ach,” he let out as he accidentally pinched himself with a piece of metal and quickly put his finger into his mouth, cleaning the new wound before it could bleed out too much. Maybe he was too worked up to work on Dum-E right now.

Peps and Rhodey always brought Steve and Bucky to conversation when they were alone, which was a pain. What did they want him to say? Yes, I might have a crush on Bucky _and_ Steve, even though they are sworn enemies (which Tony didn’t believe in the slightest but the rest of the school seemed to).

Still, Tony couldn’t deny how sexy they are.

Their blue eyes drove Tony crazy, he was ready to take off all his clothes whenever he felt them pinning him down. It was hard.

Bucky had a mysterious air around him, probably caused by the punk style, but Tony loved it. His hair, which was normally untied these days, would be soft to touch, he was sure. Not that Steve’s hair didn’t look as soft to touch, it did, but Bucky’s was longer.

That smirk of his made Tony’s knees almost give out beneath him.

It’s too much.

Tony opened a drawer and fished out a band-aid for his finger, which, luckily, wasn’t bleeding as much as he thought it would. He looked at the mess in front of him and sighed. Maybe tomorrow he will be more focused.

Steve on the other hand felt like warm sunlight. His smile lit up the entire solar system, Tony could swear it did. There was nothing more than Tony wanted to do than to kiss that smile from his face.

Well, maybe kiss Steve and then Bucky would beat that.

Tony groaned. It was pointless to dream about them kissing, he knew that. Steve and Bucky might not hate each other like they pretend they did, but that and actually wanting to kiss each other seemed like a far stretch.

He wished it wasn’t.

He packed everything back to the drawers and closed the lab’s door, leaving all his unwanted thoughts behind.

-

It got harder to ignore them when it seemed like they made it their job to stalk him around.

He scowled and froze with a sandwich halfway towards his mouth as Steve and Bucky sat in front of him at lunch. Tony looked around suspiciously, but didn’t see any of their friends in the hall. Rhodey and Peps were still in class, and Tony was hungry, so he decided to go without them.

Who would have thought Steve and Bucky would come to him like that.

“What?” Tony finally said, after he recovered from his surprise. He sounded more confused than offended for his likings.

“What what?” Bucky blinked innocently. That bastard.

“What are you doing here?” 

“Lunching?” Steve replied.

“Sitting together? With _me?”_

“You know I’m always appalled when you give yourself less credit than you're due.” Bucky said in between bites of his lunch. “Is it too unlikely of us to want and eat lunch with you? I mean, we _are_ your friends.”

“Yeah, but… but,” he placed his sandwich down and cleaned his hands, “You guys have a different group of friends, and, and I mean, won’t they be mad you guys are eating with me?”

“Why would they be mad?” Steve frowned, very much confused.

“I’ll just flick them one if they get mad.” Bucky shrugged, “I have just as much right to eat with you than eat with them,” and before Tony could speak up, he continued, “I eat with them everyday, it’s a blessing to eat with someone different from time to time.” 

And then he winked.

Fucking winked.

Tony got so red he was sure he was going to explode.

“Uh, y-yeah. Sure. But--” he gulped, “I mean, don’t you guys, like, officially hate each other?” and he looked around, noticing heads turning to look at them and quicking whispering to their friends something behind their hands. 

Tony wanted to hide.

“Who cares about that, anyways?” Bucky crossed his arms and tilted his chin up in defiance, “Besides, you worked pretty much like a peacemaker ever since you got here.”

“That’s true,” Steve nodded, “Never had there been more amicable times between my team and the punks.”

“But I didn’t do anything.” Tony was so confused.

“You didn’t do anything?” Bucky looked at him with disbelief, “What about that day in the library? Damn, Rogers and I sat next to each other without wanting to choke the other to death.

Tony didn’t believe that, and he wasn’t sure why they continued pretending to Tony they hated each other. They clearly don’t. He shrugged.

“Who knows. Maybe anyone could have done that.”

“Oh, but you are so wrong,” Steve rested his hands on the table and held his head with his hands, “There’s no one like you, Tony.”

And if he thought he was blushing before, he sure as hell was now.

It didn’t stop there, no.

Whenever they could, they would come to him and flirt shamelessly, as easily as they breathed. Tony was sure he would have a heart attack at some point, and it would be their fault. But for now, though, he just accepted the flirtations, hoping nothing bad would come from these friendly banters.

-

Pepper all but ran into him on that Friday afternoon after he closed his locker, getting ready to go home and wrap around his blankets for the weekend.

“Tony!” She had the most crazy expression on her face, which, to Tony’s misfortune, never meant something good, “What the _hell_ is going on?!”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’?” Pepper looked at him like he had just said the most dumb thing ever, “Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?”

She let out a shrieking noise as if she was dying.

“You can’t be so obtuse, Tony!”

“But I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Ok, come here.” she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to an empty corridor. She let go of his arm and pinched her nose. Whatever this was, it was clearly making her stressed.

“What happened?” he made sure his voice sounded soft and gentle, he wouldn’t want Pepper exploding on him again.

“It wasn’t what _happened_ , Tony, it’s what’s _happening.”_

He frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“You really haven’t heard? At all?” She searched for something in his eyes.

“I would have told you something by now if I had, wouldn’t I?”

“Okay,” she nodded as her hands dropped to her hips, “Okay, so. There’s a rumor going around the school--”

“Oh, Peps, you know how much I _don’t_ care about thos--”

“Hear me out. It’s about you.”

Tony’s stomach dropped.

“What.”

“There’s a rumor going around saying that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are fighting over your attention.”

“ _What?”_ he couldn’t have heard that right, “ _fighting?”_

“Pretty much.”

“No way.” he shook his head. His stomach was still dropping, much to his contentment, “They wouldn’t.”

“But, Tony, it makes sense, doesn’t it? They’ve been fighting for ever since I remember and then suddenly you arrive and the amenities stop? I think they were just looking for something to fight over once more,” she nodded like it made sense. It did not.

“Why would they be fighting over _me?!”_

“Why wouldn’t they?” Pepper tilted her head, “They both seem pretty taken by you.”

“We’re not even sure Steve is gay, Peps.”

“Maybe he just wants your friendship? Who knows their reason.”

Tony wanted to scream. This couldn’t be happening. It was the last thing he wanted for his last year of school. Didn’t he promise himself he would not get into a mess this time? Did this even count as his mess if he hadn’t started it? 

Nevertheless, people were still talking about him, whether he wanted it or not.

“Fuck, Pepper, what do I _do?!”_ he pulled at his hair.

She took her time, knotting her hair into a bum, a signature move for when she entered her focused mode, before answering.

“Firstly, relax. Nothing's going to happen, okay? It’s just a rumor. And secondly, _it’s just a rumor,_ which means soon people will forget about it. Everything will fall back to normal in no time.”

“Back to normal,” Tony was nodding, “I like that.”

“Great,” she patted his shoulder, “I’m glad you heard it from me first, and not from some random person stopping you on the corridors.” 

“When you put it like that, I guess I did notice some people looking at me more intensely than normally today.”

“Good thing no one tried to approach you.” Pepper started walking back to the front door, he followed right behind, “Hopefully the weekend will make them forget all about it.”

“God, I hope so.”

-

His plans of sleeping through the entire weekend were distressed by a number of things:

  1. His mother thinking it was a great time to ask about everything school related;
  2. His neighbors deciding to drag three couches around their house;
  3. Rhodey calling to ask him about the stupid rumors;
  4. The stupid rumors;
  5. Steve;
  6. Bucky;
  7. Bucky’s smirks;
  8. Steve’s lips--



Okay, he should stop now.

Tony turned to his sides, feeling his cheeks heating up as his brain managed to toss him more images of Steve and Bucky being hot and sexy. It was so unfair.

And now the entire school thought they were fighting over him. Which didn’t make any sense. He knew they were friends. How can’t the rest of the school see that?

His phone went off from his bedside table and he groaned before picking it up, too tired to even look at the caller.

“Hello?” he answered begrudgingly.

“Tony? Hey, open up.” Bucky said on the other side of the line. Tony’s heart skipped a beat.

“No, go home, I’m trying to sleep.”

“Can’t do. Open now before I break in.”

Tony ended the call and groaned painfully once more. Why was his life so difficult?

Reluctantly, he opened the door to Bucky --a little too glad his mother went out with some friends to a spa world-- and froze when he saw not only Bucky but Steve in his front porch.

Nope. He wasn’t going to deal with this today. He closed the door.

But, of course that wouldn’t stop them. Steve stopped the door from closing on their faces with a hand. They locked eyes and Tony instantly melted at the puppy eyes Steve gave him.

“Please, we need to talk.”

“Do we?” Tony crossed his arms, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Bucky raised a beige paper bag.

“We bought ingredients for banana cake.”

Tony looked from the bag to Bucky and to Steve, before his shoulders fell in resignation. 

“Come on in.”

Tony knew what they wanted to talk about, but was glad the conversation didn’t start as soon as they stepped into his house. He led them to his kitchen and set the ingredients on the countertop while Bucky chose the background music. The three of them made the cake in an awkward silence, well, at least he did.

He couldn’t read their expressions that well, not when they seemed to be completely focused on their tasks. Bucky was cutting the bananas in tiny slices while Steve mixed the dry ingredients in a big bowl, where Tony would soon pour the wet ingredients in.

Aside from the big horrible smelly elephant in the room, the three of them seemed to work well together, which was… nice. Very nice.

“Okay,” Bucky was the first one to break the silence. He was drying his hands on a cloth Tony threw at him earlier that afternoon, “Now that the cake is on its way, maybe we should talk.”

“Maybe we can just, not talk? That’s a great idea.”

“No, Tony, I think we need to.” Steve shook his head even though he looked almost apologetic. That made Tony’s blood boil.

“If we do have to talk, lemme ask this first,” he crossed his arms, “What the fuck is going on?”

They exchanged glances.

“What exactly do you mean?” Bucky asked.

“You guys. Your friendship. Why do you pretend to hate each other in school?”

Another exchange of looks.

“It’s complicated.” Steve grimaced at his own answer.

“We have all the time in the world.” Actually, only 40 minutes before the cake was ready. Tony was sure he would stuff his mouth with cake and choke before he had to open his mouth again once the cake was ready.

“It’s, uh, well.” Bucky scoffed, “Where to even begin?”

“From the beginning, I guess.”

Bucky took a long breath and nodded.

“Steve and I date,” and to prove his point they interlaced fingers. Tony’s mouth went dry, but he didn’t say anything, “We’ve been dating for two years now, secretly. Steve needs his football scholarship if he wants to get into college, and we don’t want him to lose because of our relationship.”

“So you pretend to hate each other,” realization struck Tony.

“Precisely,” Steve said, voice gentle.

“Who else knows about this?”

“Aside from you? No one?”

Tony sighed and massaged his temple.

“Why are you telling me this, then?”

“Because we trust you, Tony, and we are both your friends,” something told Tony there was more to that than Bucky was telling, but this was already too much to chew on. Tony dropped on a chair.

“Yeah, I can understand that. Why do you hide it?” Not the part they trust him, that didn’t make any sense, “Now. I want to know about the rumor that’s been going on in school. Is it part of your plan to diverge the focus from your relationship?” 

His heart wretched as he said those words. To think they would only want his friendship so they could use it as a barrier from the real relationship made Tony sick.

“Of course not,” Steve promptly said, “We genuinely like you and want to spend time with you.”

He didn’t buy it.

“It’s true,” Bucky added, “We decided we wanted to be friends with you since day one and never once doubted that choice.” 

Friends. Awesome.

Why flirt with him, then? He felt those words bubbling in his throat, but didn’t let them out. Maybe _that_ was part of their plan and Tony sure as hell didn’t want to learn if that was true or not.

The oven timer went off, and Tony took the cake from the rack. As he suspected, the subject died with the smell of cake in the air, and Tony was thankful. That way he could gather his thoughts before getting to a conclusive answer.

“Anyone up for a movie?” He suggested and didn’t wait for their answer as he made his way to the couch.

He sat on the very end of the large grey sofa his mom bought but neither of them actually sat on. He watched by the corner of his eyes as Steve and Bucky sat close on the other side as he put The Man From U.N.C.L.E on TV.

Tony internally slapped himself. Of course now that they had it out in the open they weren’t going to pretend anymore, at least not near him. Even though his heart ached longingly, he was glad they had at least one friend who they could be open about it.

No matter that the friend was him and he was deeply in love with them.

His thoughts started to wander the moment the opening song started. Maybe the flirting would stop now that they didn’t have to pretend anymore. Maybe it was his imagination since the beginning and they were genuinely just wanting to be friends.

Now that he knew they were a couple, a pretty solid one if they survived two years of school together, they instantly became off limits. Tony didn’t let that thought destroy him, at least not in front of his friends.

_Friends._

All his dreams about being with one of them (and the ones he dreamt of being with both) drained down the sink.

But as Tony watched how Illya, Napoleon and Gaby fitted perfectly together, he couldn’t help but long the same for him.

* * *

Tony had been unusually quiet for the remainder of their stay. He didn’t spare a glance at them even once (Bucky would know, he had his eyes on Tony the entire time), didn’t comment on any fun fact that the movie might have (actually, Bucky wasn’t even sure Tony was following what was happening on screen), and he was playing with his hair.

That, Bucky thought as Tony worried another lock of hair between his fingers, was what most worried him. Tony’s anxious behaviour.

Did he want them to leave? Bucky was sure that what they dumped into him was too much information, but he never thought Tony would get nervous about it. Happy, maybe, even angry. But anxious?

Bucky wished he knew what was going on inside Tony’s mind. 

Before he could face Tony and ask him about it, Steve squeezed their hands. He shook his head seriously, knowing full well what Bucky wanted to do. And maybe Steve understood what Tony’s thoughts were better than he did.

So he trusted Steve and let that go, even though it pained him seeing Tony looking so anxious like that.

The rumors continued for another week and a half, but since neither Bucky nor Steve made any attempt to approach Tony as much as before, people stopped gossiping.

Bucky didn’t stop flirting and approaching Tony because he wanted to; he was still very infatuated by the man, and he was sure Steve was as well. But everytime they did, Tony would retreat more and more into himself.

He hated that. Hated seeing Tony’s brightness and intensity shimmering away, leaving him hollow and small.

Were they the ones doing that to him? 

Bucky didn’t know for sure, but that had started the day they went to his house. Nothing had been the same after that.

Sure, he would still smile and make small talk, but Tony would also find an excuse and disappear throughout the day. Sometimes he didn’t appear for lunch, and not even Pepper and James would know where he went.

Bucky’s skin crawled with guilt.

He splashed some water in his face, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He watched as the droplets rolled from his cheeks and down his chin; counted every drop as seconds waiting for Steve to find him.

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

The door creaked open and there he was. Steve, his Steve.

“Hey, doll,” he said miserably, as he finally dried his face.

Steve didn’t say anything until he closed the bathroom door and crossed the distance between them.

“Buck,” he mumbled quietly, face hidden in the mess of Bucky’s hair. 

He hummed, leaning back into Steve’s space, letting his firm body hold him in place. He felt the faint pressure of kisses running down his neck, the gentleness blooming like flowers from each press.

“Did you talk to Tony today?” Bucky had to ask.

The kisses stopped, but Steve’s hands found their way to his own. He shook his head so softly, his reflection in the mirror barely moved. Bucky’s shoulders slumped.

“Me neither.”

“I don’t like this.” Steve admitted, still not moving from his position behind Bucky. And he couldn’t blame him, the proximity felt good, felt safe. Steve sighed, “I want him to be with us.”

Bucky’s mouth clamped shut. This was the first time either of them voiced what they’ve been thinking over weeks, ever since the New Year’s party. Bucky couldn’t get the thought of having Tony into their relationship out of his mind, but he was scared to admit it and spoil things with Steve.

It was a relief to know Steve felt the same way.

After a brief pause, after Bucky broke his own gaze, he squeezed their hands.

“Me too.”

-

Tony didn’t talk much while they worked on their presentation, and something told Bucky he did not want to.

The space that grew between them as they sat side by side was suffocating.

After this, they would be on their way to their respective houses, enjoy their weekends apart and watch that space grow bigger between them, until their friendship was no more than a feverish six months dream.

Bucky hated that.

“Tony,” he did not let his voice break, he couldn’t.

Tony looked at him, but didn’t say a word, probably waiting for Bucky to continue. He was already packing his stuff back into his bag. Bucky had one of Tony’s copy of the Dorian Gray in his hands and he didn’t know if he should keep it or give it back.

Before the air between them grew tenser, he continued.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come watch Steve’s training with me. Just the two of us.” The plea was there, not explicitly, but you could see it in Bucky’s eyes.

Maybe that’s why Tony accepted his invitation.

It was too cold for a late winter afternoon, and the wind was sharp against them. Bucky saw from the corner of his eyes as Tony trembled. He was underdressed, only a long sleeved shirt and a light jacket. Bucky would have scowled him if they weren’t on thin ice.

So he did the only thing he could.

“Here,” he placed his own winter jacket on Tony’s back and smiled as those lovely brown eyes widened and stared at him. He shrugged, not being able to break their eye contact. When was the last time they looked at each other? “I’m wearing more shirts than you, so don’t argue.” 

Tony didn’t. He instead put his arms through the sleeves and hugged it tighter.

Bucky stiffened when a sudden wind crashed over his unprotected neck, but didn’t let it show that it bothered him. He was fairly warm just by being there with Tony by his side.

And from the field, he sometimes caught Steve watching them, and his next steps would be full of excitement and happiness.

“Thank you,” Bucky said with all his sincerity mustered in the words, “Really, thank you for coming.”

Bucky was not expecting Tony to close the distance between them. But he did, and now their bodies were touching. He instantly remembered the party, where Tony let go of his restraints and let himself be hugged by them both.

Tony’s soft hair was now scraping gently against Bucky’s chin. He was so close, Bucky’s heart began beating faster. He smelled nice, like fresh herbs but also like iron. Bucky wouldn’t have picked two better scents for him.

Quickly, before he could think too much about it, Bucky gently kissed the top of his head and turned back to the game.

Tony stiffened fleetingly, but relaxed again and dropped his head to Bucky’s shoulder.

He decided that was a win.

-

If that didn’t boost Bucky’s confidence back up, he wasn’t called James Buchanan Barnes.

“Maybe we just need to change tactics, Stevie,” he was practically jumping around his room and screaming over the phone.

“I don’t know… what if he feels more uncomfortable?”

“Well, he didn’t when I kissed his head, nuh-uh,” Bucky had told Steve about that the moment they were alone in the lockers, and Steve had been just as excited as he, “He leaned over!”

“I know, baby, you told me already,” Bucky could practically see Steve rolling his eyes.

“What is this? Are you jealous you weren’t the one to kiss him?” Bucky teased and bit down his lip when a series of undistinguished noises came from the other side of the line.

“ _First_ of all, you did not kiss him properly, so that doesn’t count!”

“Whatever, man, I still got close to him.” he should probably stop teasing Steve before he decided to show up at Bucky’s front door and punish him. He licked his lips, maybe next time. “Anyways I was thinking about other ways to approach.” 

The creaking noises coming from Steve’s line told Bucky he was sitting down on his bed.

“What is it?” he asked, full attention on him. Bucky felt like jumping around again.

“We touch him more.”

“That’s harassment.”

“No, nothing like that, you idiot,” Bucky said without any heat, “just small touches, like holding hands for a little too long, walking closer than necessary, smiling sincerely --not flirty. I think showing more affection will work better than flirting.”

The line was quiet for a beat.

“It does feel more genuine than flirting.”

“Exactly my point. Maybe the flirting was too much.”

Steve hummed.

“So, do you like it?” Bucky asked.

“I do, really do.” Steve still sounded concerned, so Bucky let him finish, “I just don’t want this to ruin more of what’s left of our friendship.”

“I really hope so too.”

-

“Quit trying to put that many marshmallows in your mouth, Clint, you’ll choke.” Phil said, not even looking up from his phone. Bucky snorted.

Nat rolled her eyes and continued surfing through Netflix, looking for something to end their boredom.

“Why isn’t there anything good in this thing? So many movies but they all suck.” yet she kept scrolling.

Bucky took a long gulp from his wine and grimaced. Will that bitter taste stop bothering him one day?

The four of them were in Clint’s house, huddled close together in one of their sleep overs. Clint’s parents were traveling so they had the house to themselves, which actually meant cheap wine and Netflix.

There really wasn’t a better way to relax.

Bucky scrolled down his Instagram feed, rolling his eyes at some foolish photos from their classmates and having a mini heart attack at one of Steve’s new photos (which he cannot like, but he imagined himself tapping that like button dozens of times).

“What do you guys think of this one?” Nat pointed at the movie she had opened on screen.

“Finding Nemo? What are we, ten?” Clint said through the marshmallows.

“Piss off, I know you like it.” she swatted him on the knees but continued searching. “What about The Imitation Game?”

“Too sad.”

“The King?”

“Too vague.”

“Lucifer?”

“That’s a TV show.” 

“You guys aren’t helping.” she groaned, “Mamma Mia?”

“Too happy.”

“Scott Pilgrim?”

“We always watch that.”

“Stranger Things?” 

Clint shifted uncomfortably at his place on the couch.

“Hits too close to home.” he mumbled.

“In what way?” Bucky asked, “Kids finding aliens in their backyard?”

But Clint shook his head.

“The bullying.”

The air froze over them.

“Clint,” Phil’s voice was constricted as he leaned closer to their friend, “has something happened to you?”

Clint shrugged and stared at the screen like it personally offended him. Maybe it did.

“Was it someone from the football team?” Bucky asked. He would lose his mind if someone from the team even thought of laying a finger on his friends.

“Nah, it-- I mean, he didn’t hurt me or anything, but it was a threat alright.” he curled into himself. Phil, next to him, had gone completely still.

“Who?” Phil demanded, his entire posture screaming ‘danger’.

Clint looked from Phil to Nat and then to Bucky.

“Rumlow.”

* * *

Steve was battered after their training. He looked around the locker, noticing all his teammates were as well. Coach Pierce was getting more and more demanding the last few days and Steve had no idea why. 

They didn’t have a game for at least a month and at least Steve and the other fourth years should be focusing more on their studies instead of spending all their energy over training.

He hated that. Steve just wanted to be done with school and the team and join university. His eyes fell on Brock, smirking like a cat that got the cream and held back a sigh. Just a few more months before he never saw him again.

Thank god.

They were just leaving when it happened. The team had decided to go for a burger afterwards the training, and Sam had convinced him to join, so they all gathered around the parking lot, waiting for every member to arrive so they could all go together.

That was when Steve noticed from the corner of his eyes, Bucky and Romanoff, followed a little behind by a furious Coulson and a nervous Barton marching their way. Bucky and Romanoff both looked angry as well, he noticed now that he took a better look, both faces burrowed into tight frowns.

He locked eyes with Bucky and tilted his head up in question. Bucky’s frown grew deeper, and his only answer was to nod towards Brock. Steve’s eyes widened.

“Oh, Brock, what did you do?” He asked, turning to his most hot headed player, already feeling rage coursing through his veins.

“What? I did nothing!” his hands went up a moment later, “I swear.”

“Bullshit,” Romanoff spat as they stepped closer, having heard Brock. She crossed her arms and stood straight, her arms looking threatening as she crossed them, the sleeveless black shirt she wore defining her muscles, “You shoved Clint against the lockers and told him to never walk the corridors alone again, or something might happen.” She was level with Brock’s face now, jabbing her finger accusingly, pushing him backwards.

“What?” Steve’s jaw felt numb. He blinked at Brock a few times before looking at Sam, who seemed just as surprised as him, “Brock, tell me you did _not_ do that.”

Brock grunted and shoved Romanoff’s finger from his face.

“They are distracting us! At our training! It’s _humiliating,_ Rogers.”

“Fuck!” Steve swore, placing a hand on his forehead and taking a long breath, “Apologize, Brock.”

“Fuck no, I ain’t apologizing.” He turned to Bucky and his friends, “You guys better watch _out.”_

“Don’t you _dare_ come to my friends, you son of a bitch!” Bucky growled, and Steve saw his fists shaking firmly with rage. The only thing that held him back was Romanoff’s hand on his chest.

“What are you going to do?” Brock snorted, looking Bucky up and down, “You’re just a punk kid that likes to take it up your ass.”

When Bucky surged for Brock’s face, Steve let him. He let him throw a strong punch right at that prick’s jaw, even let him throw another one. But Steve held Bucky’s fist as he went for a third punch, shaking his head seriously when their eyes met.

“Let me go, Rogers.” Bucky tried to get free, but Steve’s grip grew tighter.

“If this continues, you know it will affect you worse than it will Rumlow.” and he could see in Bucky’s eyes he understood, so, after a quick faint squeeze to his boyfriend’s wrist, Steve let go. His inside became cold as he slowly turned around to face Brock on the ground. So pathetic, he thought with a sneer. He laid there, looking sorry for himself while not two seconds ago he had the balls to look down at another person. So Steve did what he could only do, “Brock, you're off the team.”

“W-what?” his eyes widened like a broken porcelain plate, “I don’t think you can do that.”

“I don’t care what you think or don’t think. I don’t accept bullies in my team.” he looked around the other players as they watched everything unfolding silently. He eyed each and every one of them before speaking again, this time with a more authoritative voice, “I hope everyone knows that.”

Wounded to his core and looking as pale as Steve’s ever seen him, Rumlow got up from the pavement, cleaned the blood from his nose with the back of his hand and stood high, like one does when their ego has been deflated.

“You will regret this, Rogers.” and he left.

As soon as he and his car were out of the parking lot, Steve relaxed. He looked at Sam, and from the proud nod his friend gave him, he knew he made the right choice.

“I’m so sorry that happened, Barton,” Steve looked guiltily at Bucky’s friend. A few of his teammates also mumbled apologizes, which calmed Steve some. He was afraid they would turn on him for taking Brock out from the team. He knew Brock had great friends among them, but maybe they weren’t into bullying as much as Brock was.

He hoped not.

“It’s fine, Rogers, thank you for that, too.” Barton gave him a faint smile, and it meant a lot for Steve, even if the smile felt a little bit awkward.

He smiled back and moved his focus to Bucky, who now hissed and flexed his bloody knuckles. 

“I’m taking Bu-Barnes to the infirmary.”

Bucky snapped his head up, looking at him with questioning eyes. Steve nodded slightly, gesturing to him that, "I got this."

“You don’t have to worry about it, I can take him,” Romanoff was saying, but Steve shook his head.

“Please, let me.” and maybe something in his face showed her Steve was sincere, because she let her hand drop from Bucky’s shoulder, yet still looked nonplussed, “It’s the least I can do to repay Brock’s behaviour.”

Romanoff studied him for another moment before nodding and walking towards her bike, Phil and Clint walking behind her.

The rest of the team went their way too, probably realizing they would have to let the burgers be for another time. Sam squeezed his shoulder once before slipping away as well.

In no time, they were the only two left in the parking lot.

“Let’s go,”

The walk to the infirmary was quiet as they were both still dealing with the adrenaline coursing through their bodies, the surge of anger taking its time to cool down. Steve wanted to punch Brock himself, his lips twisted grimly. Such a homophobic prat. They should never have accepted him in the team to begin with.

Bucky walked closer to him than they normally did, but he liked that. Steve liked knowing Bucky was still there with him, even after that shit show. He wanted to hug him and kiss his temple and comfort him. He lifted a hand up to brush a lock of hair from his face, but quickly snapped it away when a student turned one corner on the corridor they were walking through.

They weren’t alone, but god, how he wished they were.

Steve opened the door for Bucky to enter the infirmary and was surprised to see Tony sitting alone in the waiting room.

“Oh, hey.” Tony said a little confused, looking from Steve’s surprised face to Bucky’s and his bloody hand. He frowned, “What the hell happened?”

Bucky plopped down on the chair on Tony’s right while Steve took the left side. They told him, not in full details, but Steve was sure Tony could fill the gaps of the things they didn’t tell him himself. The bloody knuckles for once, were telling.

“And it’s not even the first time Rumlow provocated Bucky and his friends.” Steve mumbled angrily.

“It isn’t?” Tony’s eyebrows shot up, “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, yeah, it happens sometimes.” Bucky shrugged, “It’s nothing that we can’t deal with.”

Tony looked like he wanted to say more on the matter, but promptly shut his mouth and looked down. That was when Steve noticed the bad scratches Tony had on his left-hand fingers. He didn’t think twice before cupping Tony’s hand gently between his two.

“What’s this, Tony?” he asked, still examining the marks ruining Tony’s softer hands.

Tony jerked his hand away and shielded it with his other hand. He shrugged and looked at Steve, eyes apologizing. 

“It’s nothing.” he said, averting his eyes.

“Doesn’t look like nothing, honey,” Bucky said gently, and both carefully did not mention Tony’s flinch at the pet name.

Steve placed a delicate hand over Tony’s shoulders and smoothed some of his tension away. It was exhilarating seeing Tony relax under his touch. Bucky was right, this seemed to work so much better.

“I-i, uh, I’m very clumsy, that’s all.”

A thought crossed Steve’s mind.

“Did someone do this to you?” and he was ready to jump from his seat and run his way to Rumlow’s house if he found out the little shit had something to do with this.

“No! No, nothing of the sorts.” Tony shook his head and placed his warm palm against Steve’s chest. He hoped Tony couldn’t feel his rapid heart beat, “I’m just, really, really clumsy.”

Bucky snorted and inched closer.

“Such a clumsy chinchilla, I see.”

“That’s never going to die, is it?” Tony groaned and let his head fall limp against the wall, blinking dramatically at the lights. Steve couldn’t help but smile warmingly.

“Never, little chinchilla.” 

“I hate you both so much.”

“Lies, all I hear is lies.” Bucky laughed as Tony tried to nudge him with his elbow, and Steve joined right after.

This was light, this was sweet. Steve never wanted this to end.

-

Things seemed to go back to normal after that.

They were much closer now, and by closer, Steve meant physically as well. He found ways to sneak out of the cafeteria and eat lunch on the fields behind the school. Most of the time it was the three of them having lunch together, and even when one of them couldn’t join, the other two would still go and bask underneath the sunlight.

Steve was glad spring was finally arriving. The sun didn’t seem as afraid to show its face more constantly now than it did over winter, the grass felt more alive under his palm, and, as he laid over the field, he was lulled to a peaceful state while listening to the birds singing at the top of their lungs.

“It’s beautiful here, Steve,” Tony said one day after they finished lunch. They still had a couple of minutes before classes started again. Bucky was lying with his head on Steve’s chest and they both looked at Tony, who was a few inches away from their touch.

He never once complained or looked uncomfortable when they touched him. On the contrary, he looked pleased and more relaxed, so they never held back.

Not even now. Steve, with his free arm, nudged Tony by his sleeve to come closer. He wanted both of them under his arms, both under his protection. Tony complied, resting hesitantly his head over Steve’s chest, same chest that felt ready to start spilling love. It had never felt this full before.

Steve gave double the amount of love he was used to, yet also received double back.

Or he thought he did.

Just after he closed his eyes to continue his after lunch snoose, Tony started shifting under him. His shifting grew more restless by the second, to a point Steve couldn’t ignore any longer.

“What’s wrong, Tony?” he opened one eye to look at him.

Tony huffed and rolled away from Steve, and he did not let himself get hurt from it. He did not.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Tony asked in a small voice.

“Doing what?” Steve tilted his head to the side, feeling the grass under his head bend slightly.

“ _This,”_ he moved his hand around the air at Steve and Bucky and then to himself, “You guys are lovely and very cuddly once you get to know your real relationship, but I don’t get why you guys do it in front of _me.”_ Tony’s voice broke over the end and he had to turn his head to the side.

Steve frowned, resting himself on one elbow while Bucky shifted to sit next to him.

“I don’t think I understand what you mean, Tones,” Bucky said carefully.

Tony’s lips wobbled and a pang of worry mixed with guilt rushed through Steve.

“You guys don’t know how much it _hurts_ me being this close to you, right?” a sob escaped his throat before he could properly hold it back, “I-I’m sorry, I’ll just go.”

He was up on his feet faster than Steve could blink and running faster than they could scream.

“Tony!” Steve tried in vain, and Tony disappeared around the corner without looking back.

“We fucked up.” Bucky said as they both sat in shock.

-

Steve didn’t see Tony for the rest of the day. He tried calling him, but every call went directly to voicemail. They tried using Bucky’s phone, but it had the same effect.

Pepper and James were no use either.

“He doesn’t want to see you, you understand?” James said after Steve asked him about Tony’s whereabouts. His shoulders slacked as he ran a tired hand over his face.

“Please, James, there’s been a horrible misunderstanding,” he pleaded, “I don’t want to see him like this as much as you, maybe even more. I need to talk to him.”

James considered him for a second and Steve’s hope almost sparkled into life, but James shook his head.

“Even if I did want to help, I don’t know where he is.”

When he met up with Bucky later, he said Pepper had given him the same answer.

They searched the entire school in between classes, but Tony was nowhere to be seen. His car was still in the parking lot, which meant he had to be _somewhere._ He hadn’t gone to their shared History class, and Bucky told him he wasn’t in English either. It was getting harder to pay attention to anything around him, aside from the panic rising in his chest.

“Maybe we should go to his house then, wait for him there.” Bucky suggested after the lessons ended, after most of the students left and the parking lot was mostly empty. Tony’s car was still there, though.

“Don’t you think that’s too much?”

“Steve, doll, at this moment Tony might as well think we want him to suffer. Didn’t you hear what he said? That it hurts being close to us?”

Steve flinched at the words.

“Do you think he will understand once we tell him?”

Bucky was silent for a few moments before answering quietly.

“It’s what I’m hoping for.”

-

“Thank you for the water, Mrs. Carbonell,” Steve said, sitting straighter on the couch. He took a sip and placed the glass on the coffee table. Bucky did the same.

“Please, Maria is fine.” she smiled at them and frowned, “Tony should have come home by now, but maybe he’s working on his project…” Maria’s voice faded into nothing while she seemed to be lost in thought.

“A project?” Bucky asked.

“Oh,” she snapped back to herself, “don’t you worry about that, it’s really nothing,” she smiled at them again, “please, feel at home. I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”

“Thank you so much, Maria.” Steve said again, smiling disarmingly at her. Her smile grew wider before she walked away. They both heard her steps going up the stairs and the door from her room closing before they relaxed into each other’s space.

“Nervous?” Bucky asked, rubbing a calming hand on Steve’s thigh.

“A little bit,” he admitted.

“Me too,” he squeezed Steve’s thigh, “if this goes badly, just you know I love you no matter what.”

Steve’s heart somersaulted as he smiled.

“I love you too.”

They didn’t have to wait much longer. Not even ten minutes later and they both jerked their heads to the sound of keys unlocking the front door.

“Hey, I’m home, maaa- _what?”_ Tony almost jumped out of his skin when his eyes fell on Steve and Bucky on his couch, _“What are you guys doing here?”_ he sounded hysterical.

“You mum let us in.” Bucky shrugged.

“Please, Tony,” Steve rose from the couch, “let us explain.”

Tony seemed to get his breathing under control for a minute and he carefully bypassed them to sit on the armchair farthest from them. He looked nervous, anxious, even. His eyes were moving from Bucky to Steve and down at his hands.

Steve wanted to say something, yet beat him to it.

“I think I’m the one who needs to explain things first,” Tony said softly, not meeting their eyes any longer.

“Wha-” But Tony cut Bucky with a pleading look.

“Please, let me,” his voice got more confident. Tony took a long breath and snorted, “Might as well get everything out now, anyways,” he shifted on his armchair and started, “So you guys know how I got accepted into Harvard, right?” they both nodded. Steve would never forget that night, it was a special moment to him, “Right, yeah. That’s why I had to enroll into a new school and all that jazz, I think you guys remember all that, so, to the point,” Tony gulped, “the point is I didn’t mean to make any friends this year. None. At all.” Steve’s heart broke a little at hearing the words.

“This year served for me to solely focus on my studies and my projects and ignore the other students. But… well, that did _not_ go as planned,” he cleaned his hands on his jeans, “I don’t regret making friends with anyone, not really. I came to love and enjoy everyone’s presence… but, I’ve noticed after some time, I began enjoying the presence of the two of you more than the others… a little _too_ much,” another deep breath, “when I realized I had fallen for both of you, it was too late.”

Bucky let out a soft gasp, but aside from that, the room was quiet.

“That’s why…” Tony continued, hugging one knee close to himself, “It hurts being close to you.”

Bucky broke the silence again, but this time with a small snort. Both Tony and Steve turned to face him.

“For all that genius inside you, it takes you a lot to understand some simple things,” his face was soft, and Steve knew Bucky did not mean that to be offensive. Tony blushed, but still looked confused, so Bucky explained, “We love you too, you genius.” 

Tony blinked at them a few times, like he couldn’t quite get what Bucky just said.

“W-what?”

“We love you, Tony.” Steve said again, “Me and Bucky, both of us, love you. Our genius.”

“Our chinchilla.” Bucky added.

“Our--”

“Okay, okay, stop!” Tony’s face was a deep shade of red now. He kept looking at them, still unbelieving, like it was too good to be true, like a man thirsty for water lost in the desert who cannot tell if what he sees is a spring or a mirage. “Do you mean it?”

“Every word, Tony,” Steve said softly. He outstretched a hand towards him, “Come here.”

Bucky scooted to the side and petted the place between them for Tony to sit, yet he didn't move from his place on the armchair, looking at the spot on the couch like it would disappear if he blinked.

“Please,” Bucky said, making Tony snap his head towards him, “let us show you what we mean.”

And it was like Tony’s brain rebooted. He nodded rapidly a few times before rising from the armchair and falling, albeit hesitantly, between them.

Steve hummed excitedly and moved closer, feeling the warmth spread through him as his arm came in contact with Tony’s back. He looked at Steve then, eyes still wide and disbelieving, but there was now a faint flush on his cheeks, covering most of his freckles.

“You are adorable.” Steve mumbled and smiled wider when the flush got darker. His gaze fell south, following a few other freckles that made their home closer to his nostrils, mapping them all like the most precious constellation he has ever seen, until his eyes stopped at one lonely spot on Tony’s lips.

Lucky, that spot was, to be on their genius’s mouth, feeling that sharp tongue whenever Tony had to lick his lips. It was lucky indeed.

Steve kissed that spot. He melted the moment Tony reciprocated the kiss, moving closer to Steve even if only an inch. Maybe he was still afraid of this being a lie, but Steve and Bucky would make him believe them.

A wide familiar hand tangled its fingers on the back of Steve’s head, the thumb caressing him lovingly and Steve couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. He leaned on Bucky’s palm, feeling at home again.

The kiss broke with a gasp coming from Tony.

Bucky had decided to show his affection as well, leaving a tray of kisses --much like the ones Steve knows Bucky loves-- on Tony’s neck while his other hand, the one that wasn’t caressing Steve, held Tony’s own, squeezing reassuringly.

“My turn?” Bucky asks with a grin in place.

Tony nodded faintly, but didn’t say anything. It was as though words were escaping him, like his brain was having difficulty following up what was happening. Steve felt the same way.

Bucky and Tony’s kiss was just as gentle as his one, and Steve’s heart beat faster. He was a mix of awe, love and wonder as he watched them moving as one. At that moment, Steve knew he would never get enough of watching them together, be it kissing or just, you know, existing.

Steve didn’t realize how late it got until he broke yet another kiss with Tony to look out the window. The sky was darkening, to the point the streetlamps were already on, and something inside him churned unhappily. He didn’t want to go, not now, not ever.

“You guys can stay the night,” Tony offered as though he read Steve’s mind, and quickly added, “O-of course, that’s it, i-if you guys want to.”

Bucky snorted. He now sat next to Steve while Tony sat on his lap on his sides, his legs over Steve’s. It felt good having his lovers ( **_both of them_ **!) touching him at the same time. Steve felt safe.

“Wouldn’t your mom mind?” Bucky asked, but Steve could see he wanted desperately to say yes.

“Nah, she wouldn’t. The other day Peps and Rhodey slept here as well, so it’s no biggie,” Tony looked at them, hope shining in his eyes, “Please?”

“Of course, Tony,” in fact, Steve kissed him again to show Tony how much he liked the idea. Inr the way Tony reacted, he understood.

-

Maria Carbonell was a good mother, she knew that. Even if sometimes she and Tony didn’t see eye to eye, she knew everything she did was for his benefit. For example, divorcing her ex-husband.

It was late that night when she went downstairs for a glass of water and she frowned, confused, when she heard the faint sound of the TV playing. Did Tony not go to sleep? He had classes tomorrow!

But she was surprised to see that Tony was very much asleep, in fact, he looked more peaceful than he had for a long time. He was tucked in between his friends, Steve and Bucky, she remembered.

The three looked so sweet and loving she cursed herself for not bringing her phone with her for a picture. Tony always told her not to embarrass him in front of his friends but this was too adorable, almost irresistible.

Bucky and Steve looked calm as well, both heads lolling close to Tony’s, Maria winced, that position wasn’t going to be good for their backs come morning. But who was she to wake them from their sleepover?

So she quickly ventured back to Tony’s room and snatched a warm fuzzy blanket big enough for the three of them and took one picture, just one, Tony wouldn’t kill her for just one picture, would he?

Once they were warm and more comfortable, she turned to the kitchen for her glass of water before she forgot it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooooooo!!!! they date now! <3 me loves it  
> As always you can find me over my tumblr [@sparkly-angell ](https://sparkly-angell.tumblr.com/) or on discord, on the [Stuckony Discord Group](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n)


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAA IM NOT EMOTIONAL, YOU ARE! ;3;  
> Here's in the ending, my dudes.  
> I want to thank you guys, every single one of you, for the support and the love and the help you put over making this happen <3 thank you so much. Each kudo and comment means so much to me! <3 <3   
> With that being said, here you go! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Tony was dreaming.

The soft light of the sun resting gently on Steve's cheeks and lashes like a warm comforter couldn’t real. The cute snoring coming from Bucky lying behind him was just part of his imagination. Just as being snuggled by both his crushes on his living room sofa was.

He blinked a few times, trying to wake up from the heaven sent dream, but slowly noticing he could not. He shifted, wondering if they were apparitions from his (most likely) feverish brain, but arms held him tighter.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t a dream after all.

The conversation from last night rose above the fogginess of his sleepy brain, followed close by the very real memory of the very real make out session they had afterwards. His free hand --the one that wasn’t buried beneath the other two bodies-- touched his lips tentatively, and yes, his lips felt sore and stiff from it. Proof enough for him to assert for sure he was not dreaming.

Tony Stark Carbonell had just woken up next to the two men he had been wanting since day one, and it was not a dream.

It was real, his heart leaped with excitement. Bucky and Steve both, with him, on his couch, in the middle of the living room, where his mother could walk in at any moment. He froze, stomach falling to the ground.

_ His mother could walk in at any moment. _

“Fuck!” He cursed and tried to move away from the mess of limbs. He failed, though. Tony’s feet accidentally caught in between Steve’s and he lost his balance. With a loud yelp, Tony fell on the floor.

He groaned. What a way to wake up.

Both men shifted on the couch, and, with half lidded eyes, barely just woken up, looked at Tony on the ground.

“What?” Bucky mumbled confused.

“Tony, what are you doing on the ground?” Steve asked, a little more awake than Bucky. He stretched a tired hand towards him, and Tony took it, feeling how warm Steve’s fingers were at his caress, and smiled dazed.

Tony could touch them now, and he knew they would love and accept it, everything he gave them. It was still so unbelievable.

“I fell, that’s all,” he answered.

“Tony? Are you awake?” his mother called from the kitchen. When Tony hummed in answer, she continued, “I’ve made some breakfast for you and the boys, hope they like waffles and eggs.”

Bucky’s stomach grumbled.

-

After breakfast, both Steve and Bucky left to their respective houses for a quick shower and a change of clothing. It was too suspicious going to school with the same outfit, so they all decided it was for the best.

Of course, they didn’t leave at all before they didn’t give Tony a breathtaking kiss, the kind of kiss that had you floating over a few hours or more. He watched as they both also shared one with hearts in his eyes. He was part of this now, of their affection. They wanted him.

That thought alone got Tony’s heart to sing euphorically for the rest of the morning.

He was humming absentmindedly under his breath when Pepper nudged him in the middle of Math class that morning.

She looked at him confused, but with a faint smile on her lips. His own smile grew and he nearly beamed next to her. Even though he could not tell her why he was so happy, Tony couldn’t help wanting to share that feeling with his friends.

When the bell rang, both Rhodey and Pepper came right after him.

“What was that about?” Rhodey asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Tony smiled and snorted, rolling his eyes.

“Nothing, really, can’t I just be happy?”

“Uh, no you can’t,” Pepper looked at him like he grew another head, “yesterday we didn’t hear from you for the entire day after lunch and we had to deal with Steve and Bucky, both desperate to find you, for some reason. And now, here you are, beaming like the sun just kissed you.”

Well she wasn’t wrong, the sun  _ did _ kiss him earlier that day. His sun  _ and _ his moon.

“We had a misunderstanding, but it’s sorted out now.”

Pepper eyed him suspiciously before shrugging and letting it go.

“Oh that’s great news! So tomorrow night won’t be canceled!” Rhodey said, punching the air in victory.

“What’s tomorrow night?” Tony asked. To be honest, he wasn’t sure what day of the week they were in. It felt like a Saturday, but alas, they were in school, so it couldn’t be.

“You forgot? Natasha invited us to her house tomorrow night. It’s going to be wild!”

Oh yes, Natasha’s house, with wine and some friends. Tony couldn’t wait.

-

Tony’s phone pinged with a notification from their group chat.

**From: Cap Blue Eyes (9:31pm)**

I wish I could go with you, guys

**From: Buckaroo (9:31pm)**

Aww Stevie 😗 😭💔

**From: Tony (9:32pm)**

Maybe next time?

**From: Cap Blue Eyes (9:34pm)**

One can dream…

**From: Buckaroo (9:56pm)**

Here’s a photo of Tony’s outfit to cheer you up

[attachment sent]

Tony opened the photo and squealed embarrassed at it.

“When did you take this?” he asked, high pitched. 

Sure enough the photo was of him standing in the kitchen doorway with a half empty glass of tinted wine, face already flushed pink. He was completely relaxed while talking with Phil and Clint, moving his hands around so much so, his Italian ancestors would have loved.

The focus of the photo was clearly on his ass, he blushed harder. He wore tight black jeans his mother had bought him and he never used and a comfortable old hoodie. Bucky had told him earlier he looked the perfect mix of hot and cozy. Tony liked that.

“I couldn’t  _ not _ , you know? I had to share.” Bucky said next to him on Natasha’s couch. It wasn’t as big as his, but everyone seemed to fit over, aside from Natasha herself and Pepper, who were sitting on the ground very, very close.

**From: Cap Blue Eyes (10:02pm)**

Damn, Tony. Hot.

**From: Cap Blue Eyes (10:05pm)**

If I were home rn I would invite you both to come

**From: Cap Blue Eyes (10:05pm)**

But since I’m not, have a pic as well

[attachment sent]

Tony’s breath hitched at the sight in the photo. Steve was in the bathroom of what looked like Sam’s house, if Tony remembered correctly. He was wearing a white plain t-shirt too small on him, since his muscles seemed to want to pop out of the sleeves and his chest to rip it in half. He wore loose blue jeans and a flannel jacket messily tied around his waist.

His hand, and Tony cursed the living shit out of that tease, the one which wasn’t holding the phone, held loosely the hem of his jeans, showing just a little bit of skin. Tony’s mouth went dry.

“He wants to kill us, Tones,” Bucky whimpered, not looking up from his phone either.

Tony moaned sadly in agreement and threw his phone aside.

“Horrible. He better wear that tomorrow too.” Tony crossed his arms.

“I’ll tell him just that.”

But aside from that moment, Bucky and Tony didn’t interact too closely or flirt for the remainder of the night. Sure, they participated in the same conversations and even spoke with each other, but not intimately, not like lovers.

In the end, in their friends’ eyes, they were just close friends enjoying the night with their other friends. Nothing more. Tony gulped his sugary wine in one go. How should he act normally?

What  _ was _ normal now?

He laughed absentmindedly with his friends from a joke Rhodey made. He didn’t hear it, his focus wasn’t on it, not really. It was on the slight sway of Bucky’s long locks as he shook his head at the joke, on his sweet smile that Tony wanted nothing more than to nibble on with his teeth, his long fingers interlaced together resting on his stomach… 

Tony couldn’t stop looking.

When Bucky caught his eyes, which was bound to happen since Tony was shamelessly staring at him --blame the alcohol--, a small wave of trepidation washed through Tony, yet, instead of scolding Tony and shaking his head censuring him, Bucky smirked and winked, acting like it was just the two of them in the room. Tony’s face reddened a few tones, and it wasn’t from the wine. 

He broke eye contact then, looking down at his feet and trying to get his breath under control. Why was everything harder to deal with when alcohol was involved?

From the kitchen, he saw Nat staring at him quizzically then disappeared through the door. Tony followed her in, carefully not stumbling on the feet and legs of his friends sprawled around the living room.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her in hushed tones. Or, as hushed as one could be while tipsy.

Nat sat on a kitchen chair and narrowed her eyes.

“You and Bucky are not subtle.”

He blinked at her.

“Oh.”

“Yep. But don’t worry,” she waved a hand, “I don’t think the others noticed, not even Peps.”

“O-okay,” he breathed out, relaxing.

“Though, I must know,” she started. Her face softened on the edges, and Tony could tell her she was drunk as well, “did Bucky tell you about his other lover?”

Tony stiffened. Did she know about Steve?

“Y-yes, I know about him. Do you--”

“No, I don’t know who he is. Bucky doesn’t want us to know, so I don’t,” she shrugged, “that’s good, then. I worried he hadn’t told you about it and was just messing with you.”

A pang of affection warmed his veins at her protectiveness. He smiled at Natasha and shook his head, which he noticed instantly was a bad idea, it only made him dizzy.

“He’s a nice guy, I can assure you. I--uh,” Tony didn’t know if he should say this, but he’s been wanting to share this with someone since yesterday, and he couldn't resist any longer, “I’m also dating him.”

“Oh,” her eyes widened, but she quickly recomposed herself, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Y-yeah. But it’s nice. I like it.” he looked at his hands.

“That’s what matters then,” and Tony was surprised to feel her warm hand on his, “I’m quite happy myself as well,” she gave him a knowing smile.

“You mean you guys--”

“Yup, since last week.”

“How didn’t Peps  _ tell _ me that?!” he groaned.

“Did you tell her about Bucky?” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

“Well, no, but--”

“That’s exactly my point.”

He felt laughter bubbling in his throat and couldn’t help but let it escape. He felt lighter now that someone knew at least a part of the full story, and Nat joined him, shaking her shoulders and laughing freely. The wine sure made people giddy.

Nat was great, he realized. She was an amazing friend and he knew she would be good for Pepper as well. That’s all that matters.

“Don’t tell her I told you, though,” she warned Tony after coming down from the high, “I think she wants to tell you and James on her own.”

Tony nodded.

“Same goes for you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of telling anyone about it.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

The rest of the night went by a blur.

After entering the living room again, Tony noticed the only free place left was next to Bucky, so he happily, yet hesitantly sat there.

“What did you guys talk about?” Bucky whispered, throwing a hand over the sofa like it was the most normal thing to do. 

“Nothing much,” but he was sure his smile gave out everything.

After that, with Mr. Brightside playing in the background, they decided to play a few shot games, and Tony’s memory began to darken until there was nothing left.

-

Next day Tony woke up sure he was in a boat, swimming on high seas. His mouth felt dry and a thirst washed over him.

With a long groan, he opened his eyes. He was lying on Natasha’s living room floor with a fluffy black cushion under his head and a soft blanket over him. Tony shifted and froze, sobering up immediately when an arm nudged him closer to a warm body behind him.

He tentatively looked back and cursed internally when he saw Bucky’s beautiful sleeping face. So much for a secret.

“Morning, sleepy head,” Clint sang over them on the sofa. His hair was sticking out in every direction and his eyes were swollen. Maybe he didn’t get enough sleep.

“What time is it?” he managed to say.

“Just past one,” Clint said, picking up a mug from the side table and taking a sip. Tony smelled the air and moaned, letting the smell of sweet, sweet coffee fill his nostrils.

Clint snorted offered him his mug after Tony made grabby hands for it. He felt like a child, but he needed coffee right now. He managed to wiggle himself to a sitting position even with Bucky’s arms tight around his wait, and took a sip. He moaned again.

“Delicious. A drink worth of gods. Thanks.”

Clint snorted over him.

“Don’t worry, Tony, we got plenty more if you need,” Clint snickered at the pleasure sound Tony let out.

“That’s a blessing,” when he looked down, he noticed he wasn’t wearing his hoodie, but Bucky’s shirt, “What the hell happened yesterday?”

“You mean you don’t remember?”

“Do you?”

“Touché,” Clint laughed, he had drank double the amount Tony had, “I was hoping you would tell us.” 

“‘Us’? You mean no one remembers?” This would be hilarious if the blank sheets over his memory weren’t frightening.

“Nat might, and maybe Bucky. They usually remember more than the rest,” Clint pointed at the other side of the couch to where Nat slept peacefully, “But they are both still sleeping. Maybe check your phone, you might have something there.”

Oh god.

Luckily his phone was still in his pants pockets, so he rushed to open his social media apps to see if he had posted anything too embarrassing or compromising. His instagram story had an exclamation point next to it, meaning that even if he had tried to post, the pictures didn’t make it out online.

He sighed, relieved.

But he was still curious, so he opened them.

There were four lines on the top of his screen, indicating he had four stories. The first and second stories were a video of Rhodey, Clint and Phil dancing to Panic!At the Disco, and it was a really nice video, so he decided to keep it.

The third one was a selfie, he realized after squinting. It was too dark to see exactly what was happening in it, but he could see his and Bucky’s silhouettes. There was a caption too, it said: missing our boo.

Tony almost gagged before he excluded the picture.

The fourth wasn’t any better. They seemed to have finally found where the flash button was, so they (but specially Tony) looked pale and greasy. It was all the wrong angles but it was obvious they were kissing.

He saved that one on his phone before deleting it from the app.

“Did you find anything telling?” Clint asked, looking up from his own phone.

“Nope, just a video of you guys dancing to ‘I write sins not tragedies’.”

Clint groaned.

“I have no idea when that happened, but that would explain the lump on my leg.”

“I still have no idea why I’m wearing Bucky’s shirt.” Tony stretched it in front of him, staring at the Ramones symbol upside down.

“Oh, I remember that…sorta,” Clint said and Tony looked up curiously, “I think you accidentally spilled an entire bottle of wine on your hoodie, so Bucky gave you his shirt.” 

“ _ Fuck!” _ his mother was going to kill him, “Are you sure it was wine?”

“Who knows?” Clint shrugged, “hopefully it wasn’t, we can check that out later.”

Tony looked at Bucky then, and yes, he was definitely shirtless under the blanket. He looked so peaceful while sleeping, even though he would probably wake up with a horrible churning in his guts. Tony caressed his hair back, massaging softly his head.

“When were you guys going to tell us?” Clint broke the silence, and Tony startled.

“Oh, well, I don’t know,” he sighed, “this is all pretty new for us as well.”

“Don’t worry then,” Clint ruffled his hair, “we won’t be telling anyone.”

Tony smiled.

“Thanks.”

* * *

Waking up next to Tony would never get old, Bucky realized as he came to himself, guided from sleep by Tony’s sweet lulling laughs.

He felt like crap.

Who said mixing wine with vodka and energy drinks was a good idea? No one, that’s who.

There was a hand softly petting his head, making waking up drunk easier than it should. Bucky grunted and shifted closer to the warm body next to his, resting his head at their lap with hardship only a hangover person could master.

“Hello to you too, Buckaroo.” Yes, it was Tony’s lap. He smiled and snuggled closer, feeling Tony’s stomach reverberating with his laugh. This was what paradise felt like.

“I didn’t know Bucky was a snuggling person.” he heard Clint snorting somewhere over them.

Bucky cracked an eye open, gaze firstly landing on Tony’s pleased yet tired face before it moved to Clint’s over on the sofa, sitting with one leg under him.

“Why is it that Clint is comfortably sitting on the couch and we have to be lying on the hard ground?” he groaned out.

“Because, Bucky, my friend, I woke up earlier.”

“Unfair.” he mumbled against Tony’s belly, not caring if Clint understood what he said your not.

“Do you want some coffee?” Tony asked.

“ _ God _ yes, please.”

-

Later that day, Bucky and Tony left for Tony’s house, Tony wearing his own hoodie (which had been drenched with only water, thank god, and now was dry) while he got his shirt back, if a little reluctantly from Tony.

Steve joined them a couple of minutes later.

“So last night was a blast, boys, thank you for that.”

Bucky and Tony exchanged confused glances.

“Last night? What happened?”

Steve laughed good naturedly.

“How drunk  _ were  _ you guys?”

“Very, the answer is very fucking drunk” Bucky said.

“You better check your messages on the groupchat, then.”

Bucky groaned, already regretting his life choices.

**From: Bucky (1:11pm)**

Stevieeeee, come heere

**From: Tony 🐹 (1:13pm)**

[attachment sent]

**From: Steeb (1:13pm)**

Are you guys really trying to persuade me to crash a party by sending me pictures of you guys kissing?

**From: Tony 🐹 (1:14pm)**

[attachment sent]

[attachment sent]

[attachment sent]

**From: Steeb (1:16pm)**

Please, I can’t see anything, use flash

**From: Bucky (1:20pm)**

[attachment sent]

**From: Steeb (1:20pm)**

Did it really take you 4 minutes to figure out flash?

**From: Steeb (1:21pm)**

You guys are making me hella horny tho

**From: Steeb (1:21pm)**

Bucky suck a mark on Tonys neck please

**From: Tony 🐹 (1:23pm)**

[attachment sent]

**From: Steeb (1:23pm)**

Beautiful.

**From: Steeb (1:24pm)**

[attachment sent]

**From: Tony 🐹 (1:25pm)**

Is htat your hand under yr pants or you are just that big?

**From: Bucky (1:25pm)**

Steev is enourmos

**From: Bucky (1:25pm)**

Enormous

**From: Steeb (1:26pm)**

😉 🍆

“Oh god,” Bucky groaned, cheeks heating up. Tony had the heels of his palms against his eyes. Well, that explained why his lips felt swollen and Tony’s neck had bite marks all over it.

Steve laughed harder.

-

Their table in the mess hall felt complete, finally. Maybe not completely complete, since Steve wasn’t there with them, but it was as complete as it would get. Bucky and Tony sat side by side, eating from each others lunch like those nauseating couples normally did.

Now that their friends knew about them, why hide it? It made no sense denying since most of them remembered the events of that Friday night on the prior week. But that didn’t matter much anymore, everyone’s focus was now on the approaching finals.

It was exciting yet frightening. On one hand, finals are always a bitch no matter what year you were in, but on the other hand it would be their second to last finals. Ever.

School was finally ending.

That was a dreadful thing to think of, even now at the end.

He knew what people said. You’ll fall apart with your school friends after you enter college, and then years after you might even forget their faces.

Bucky didn’t want that. He loved his friends, and he couldn’t believe they would fall apart. At least not with this bunch.

And Steve and Tony…

He couldn’t even imagine of losing them. He refused.

Both Steve and Tony were intelligent and could get scholarships on basically any college they wanted. Bucky knew Tony would be going to Harvard next year, and if Steve wanted, he could follow. But Bucky…

He didn’t trust his skills and knowledge enough to try and get in. Maybe he should. For their sake, for his own.

Bucky looked at Tony as his tiny genius laughed at one of Clint’s stories. It was so beautiful to watch. He didn’t want to lose it. Not now, not ever.

He gave Tony a quick peck on the cheek, which made him speechless and his face heat up. Adorable.

From the other side of the hall, he saw Steve watching them with tenderness in his eyes.

Resoluted, he decided he would look up the scholarships when he got home.

-

“I’m so glad I can now say how  _ hot _ Steve is in his football attire.” Tony whispered in his ear so that their friends wouldn’t hear them.

“Oh, wait till he notices us and starts teasing. He’s an ass.”

“A beautiful ass.”

“You got that right. Although…” Bucky’s hand slipped down Tony’s back and into his trousers’ back pocket, “Yours is just as gorgeous.” He made his point by squeezing it.

Tony’s breath shuddered and he had to bite down on his lower lip.

“You’re such a tease.” Tony rumbled.

“Gotta get you horny for what comes next.”

“What does?”

“The after game. In the lockers.”

Tony hummed pleasantly and leaned closer to Bucky. He laid a hand on Bucky’s upper thigh, the touch burning him with desire and Tony inched closer to whisper again. Bucky’s pulse was so loud he doubted he would be able to hear anything Tony would say.

“I cannot wait.” Tony mumbled, before nibbling once Bucky’s earlobe. Bucky shuddered.

From the field, they saw Steve tripping on his own feet and falling to the ground with an embarrassing sound. Bucky chuckled. Who was the tease now?

His cheekiness subsided considerably when he noticed they weren’t the only ones sitting on the benches and watching the game. From the other side of the field he could see a lone figure, big and built, with the brain the size of a raisin. It was none other than Rumlow himself.

Why would he come watch the training sessions? Was he watching the game to feel more resentful and bitter? Bucky didn’t know he was a masochist.

Yet, Bucky squinted, Rumlow didn’t seem to be watching the game, it seemed… it seemed like he was watching them.

Something dark and protective started to grow inside Bucky’s chest. He nudged Tony closer until his head was resting on his chest and under Bucky’s chin. He didn’t break eye contact with Rumlow while doing so.

-

“I can’t believe the day finally came,” Tony said over lunch. His legs were moving up and down in an anxious manner as he looked down at his plate.

“Relax, we’re going to do great, Tony.” he tried reassuring his boyfriend, but Tony only shrugged.

“But what if Mr. Furry hates it? I mean, he hates me already, what stops him from shitting all over our presentation?”

“Professionalism?”

Tony hummed and shrugged again.

“Tones, hey, look at me. He won’t shit all over our presentation ‘cause we did a great fucking job,” he lowered his voice, “Steve said he loved it, remember?” 

“Yeah, but Steve is our  _ boyfriend _ not a teacher that was against my--  _ ugh, _ you know?”

Bucky didn’t know, but it didn’t feel right to ask about that now.

“He won’t, baby, trust me, okay? He might not like you, or me, but he is a professional teacher, okay?”

Tony looked at him, lost expression on his face even as he nodded. Bucky looked at the time on his phone and made up his mind.

“Come on, we still have some time before classes start, I want to show you something.”

They rose after saying goodbyes to their friends and left the hall. Bucky met Steve’s eyes and gave him a tiny nod.

“Where are you taking me?” Tony asked, looking around the empty corridors with curiosity.

“Just somewhere to relax, I think you’ll like it,” they turn on the last corner and there it was, their bathroom, “here we are.”

“A locked bathroom?”

Bucky snorted.

“Sure, call it that,” he said as he lockpicked it, “I personally like to call it a piece of heaven in hell.”

“Poetic.”

“You’ll see,” he opened the door, “after you.”

“Wow, I’ll give you this,” Tony stood in the middle of the white tiled bathroom, “this is so much cleaner than the ones we gotta use.”

“Right? It’s our favorite spot.”

“‘Our’?” Tony asked.

“Mine and Bucky’s,” a third voice joined them, and Tony blinked surprised to see Steve closing the door behind him, “Hey, you two.”

“Steve,” Tony smiled, and Bucky’s heart expanded, reminding himself how much Tony was also enamored with Steve, and vice-versa.

“Tony’s getting nervous about the presentation today, so I thought we could help him relax.” Bucky explained once they were all over each other’s space. He had an arm over Tony’s shoulders while Steve rested his hands on their hips.

“Oh, we can definitely help you with that,” Steve smirked. He tilted his head to the side and caught Tony’s lips delicately. Tony’s eyes fluttered shut as he exhaled like he’s been holding his breath for a week.

Bucky melted and smiled warmly, but soon got a hold of himself and went into action. This was about Tony, not him. He left a trail of kisses from Tony’s shoulder to the place where his jaw meets his ear, much like he did that first time.

Pleasant shudders went through Tony’s body at each kiss, which was all the approval he needed to continue exploring. At some point, Tony fisted his hands on his shirt, grounding him.

Bucky caught his mouth a moment after Tony came for air. His lips were soft and a little wet from kissing Steve, and it was wonderful. Sweet, and loving and perfect.

Steve was now working his way up the other side of Tony’s neck. He was so relaxed Bucky decided this was a win.

“Feeling better, hon?” Bucky asked after he broke the kiss.

Tony nodded, and Bucky snorted. He was probably not finding words to speak.

* * *

Steve groaned, his head against the cold metal top from the library’s table. Truth was, he wanted to cry.

Why was Math so difficult? Why the fuck did he have to learn about the cylinder’s volume formula? Why would that matter in the future?

“You never know, might come handy in college,” Tony snorted next to him when he voiced his laments.

He didn’t know how that would come to be true, though. Steve was almost a hundred percent sure he would be majoring in History to become a teacher. He rolled his head to the side, looking at Bucky.

He still gotta ask what Buck wants for his future, but he was sure whatever he chooses won’t be too far from Biology. It always made him happy, even if Steve couldn’t understand why.

And Tony… well, maybe something with Robotics? Will they even have this conversation one day? Steve wanted to, couldn’t bear the thought of losing them.

Anyways, back to the present.

“I don’t care about cubes and balls enough to care about their formula.” he mumbled.

“Oh? I thought you cared enough about balls,” Tony raised his eyebrows.

Steve gagged, feeling his face heat up.

“You are horrible.”

From Tony’s other side, Bucky was laughing.

“Let’s concentrate, okay? I can help you, Steve.”

And he only obliged to make Tony happy.

-

In the end, Tony did help him a lot.

Steve actually understood and knew most of the questions on the exam. The ones he had some doubt, though, he used logic to get by. Hopefully that was enough.

When he checked his answers with Bucky after the test, he was happy to learn almost every answer they had were the same.

“Am I becoming a Math god? Is this really happening?”

Bucky rumbled a laugh and swatted him on his shoulder.

“Just ‘cause you probably passed this exam with an A doesn’t mean you’re a Math god. Tony’s the god here.”

“You are so right, Buck.”

“I know,” he winked, “What do you have now?”

“History exam. Just some basic stuff,” he shrugged, “But I bet Tony is shook.”

“Maybe we should go check on him?”

“Let’s go.”

-

Tony was fine. Nervous, but fine. They’ve been studying for this test since the beginning of last week, so they were both ready. Clint, who was also in this class with them, even came and wished the both of them good luck. Steve gave him a smile and wished him the same. He was probably in his good graces now, after expelling Brock from the team.

They went to Bucky’s house after to celebrate surviving another wave of exams.

-

Spring was now at its peak, Steve breathed deeply before exhaling with a sigh. He and Bucky were having a quiet lunch break outside again. Tony couldn’t meet them that day, he had promised Pepper and James that he would lunch with them, so they just assured him it was fine.

Which it really was. They were dating, not glued to the hips.

“I’m sure I’m never going to meet someone who loves Spring more than you do.” Bucky teased him.

“What can I say? I just love it.”

Bucky looked at him with fondness in his smile.

“I know.”

“Say,” Steve asked after a brief pause, “I’ve been thinking a lot about college.”

“Yeah?” he didn’t miss the way Bucky stiffened, “What about?”

“Mostly us and Tony… I-- well, the truth is… I don’t want this,  _ us, _ to end.”

Bucky was quiet for a long moment before he spoke up with a small voice.

“Me neither,” he found Steve’s hand and held it firmly, “I’ve been looking at scholarships, and, I mean, it might be really hard for me to get one, but I’m willing to try.”

“Where?”

“Harvard.” and when he saw Steve’s eyebrows shooting up, he added, “Well, I guessed you and Tony could basically join every college you guys wanted, so I’m trying to get into the best so we can all be together.” his voice started losing some of its resoluteness halfway through, so Steve squeezed his hand.

“I think that’s a great idea, Bucks.”

He looked up, face uneasy and bordering disbelief.

“You do?”

“Of course,” Steve smiled, “And I think we’ll make it! I’m sure.”

Bucky’s face morphed to its normal calmness, but before he could speak, their phones buzzed.

**From: ChinchMan (12:32pm)**

You guys want to join me in the bathroom? 😛

They looked at each other, smirks growing on their faces.

**From: Bunny Bucks (12:33pm)**

On our way, sweet thing

-

It took Tony a few minutes to join them in the bathroom, but it took only a moment before they were craving eagerly for proximity. Steve would never have enough of this, it was intoxicating, and his heart was deeply smitten.

The three of them moved together seamlessly, falling into each others space like it’s always been a perfect fit. Steve wanted,  _ needed  _ more. More of Bucky, more of Tony, more of them.

“You guys look so beautiful together,” Steve whispered as Bucky and Tony’s mouths clashed into an intense kiss, to which Steve had to suck on his bottom lip not to make embarrassing sounds.

He sneaked a hand between them, trying to find Tony’s fingers but instantly froze when Tony hissed and flinched when they touched.

“What’s wrong?” Steve was already stepping away from Tony, afraid to hurt him again.

“No, don’t-- _ fuck,” _ Tony swore, grabbing Steve by his jacket and bringing him close again, “Don’t. It’s, uh, my hand,” he lifted his other hand showing the familiar cream colored bandage that’s wrapped over it.

Steve and Bucky shared a worried glance before turning back to Tony.

“ _ Please, _ honey, tell us why you’re always with a bandage or band-aids on your fingers,” Bucky said softly, gently cupping the injured hand on his own.

Tony hesitated, so Steve added.

“We worry about you.” and dropped a kiss to his temple.

Tony sighed, resignedly, and gave them a nod.

“I shouldn’t, but then again, I shouldn’t do half the stuff I do. One of them being here with you.” He squeezed Bucky’s hand and leaned into Steve’s space, “But… well. Follow me.”

The corridors were empty, everyone already inside their classrooms. Everyone aside from them. Steve didn’t normally skip classes, he knew Bucky did, and now he thought Tony did too? And when a teacher passed by them-- not asking for passes or any of that-- and just nodded at Tony, Steve relaxed a little, even if he was still confused.

“Here we are,” Tony announced, opening a door with--was that a key? Tony had a key to a room in their school?

There was nothing particularly uncommon about the physics lab as they stepped inside, in fact, Steve was sure he dozed off on that spot near the window at least five times, if not more. But it was when Tony opened a cabinet and a robot strolled down from it, did his jaw drop.

“Bucky, Steve, meet Dum-E.”

The robot moved shyly towards them, its arm tilting the claw on top of it to the side as though it was a confused pup.

“Tony, you did this?” Steve caught himself asking in awe.

“Uh, yep. Dum-E is my child.”

“Fuck, Tony,” Bucky was still looking gobsmacked as Dum-E, the robot, Tony’s creation, extended its arm curiously.

Steve gently closed the distance between them and petted the claw carefully, treating it exactly like he would any other pet. And, to his surprise, it also reacted like any other pet would. Dum-E leaned into the touch and a metallic purr resonated from inside.

“I think he likes you guys.” The smile Tony gave them could split his face in two.

“How long have you been working on this?” Steve asked.

“Since August.”

“ _ August?” _ Bucky let out incredulous, “that’s like, since classes started.”

“Yup.”

Tony shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. He normally acted overly proud of everything he did and seeing him act so humble about it made Steve realize maybe Tony never showed this to anyone. Maybe his invention, Dum-E wasn’t something he  _ wanted _ to show to anyone, maybe it was something he built for himself, to himself, and not to show off. Steve’s heart melted a little more for Tony.

“You are amazing, Tony.” Bucky beat him to it.

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not  _ nothing, _ baby, this is so much!” Steve wrapped an arm around Tony’s neck while his other hand gently caressed his injured hand, “You are incredible and intelligent and I’m so glad you showed this to us.”

Tony didn’t answer, just gave him a watery smile and turned his attention back to where Bucky and Dum-E were getting to know each other.

“Thank you, guys, you are amazing.”

-

Steve went home that afternoon with flowers and butterflies blossoming and flying in his chest.

Everything was perfect.

That night he dreamt of robots, college and two sets of beautiful, expressful eyes.

-

Next day he didn’t see a trace of Tony.

* * *

Tony had a kick to his steps as he walked from the parking lot that morning. He was humming under his breath joyfully as the sun shone bright and warmed him with a promise of a great day.

Yesterday had meant everything to him. Bucky and Steve were the first people to ever meet Dum-E, not even his mother knew about his newest project. Their praises and excitement got to him, and he felt loved like he never had before.

His humming was cut short abruptly as, from the shadows, Brock Rumlow and a couple of other football players blocked the school entrance. The ex-player stood in the middle, arms crossed. The smirk on his face that made Tony’s spine grow cold.

Tony looked around. There was no one else in the parking lot, well, no one close enough to them to be their target aside from him.

Well, he would just have to use another entrance.

But as he turned around, a hand grabbed his forearm, Tony winced, the grip was so tight he was sure it would leave bruises later.

“Where do you think you’re going, Stark?”

His stomach churned at the use of his dad’s surname.

“Don’t call me that.”

Brock laugh was chilling.

“What? Do you prefer something else?” Rumlow pretended to ponder about it, “What about ‘cock sucker’? Or ‘pussy’?” 

His friends laughed and high fived each other like those were the funniest jokes they ever heard. 

“What about ‘piss off, I don’t want anything to do with you’?” Tony suggested.

“Hmm, nah, that sounds lame,” he squirmed as Rumlow’s grip tightened, “And you might not want anything to do with me, but  _ I _ want.”

“And why is that?” Tony didn’t let his fear show in his voice.

“ _ You  _ are  _ dating _ that punk that got  _ me _ out of the team,” his smile was bordering insane now, “I’ll just make him pay for it,” his grip is suddenly gone, but Tony wasn’t relieved, “Boys, take him to the back.”

_ Oh no. _

It was a useless struggle against their strong hands, but Tony tried anyway. Panic was rising rapidly as they dragged him away from any prying eyes.

They threw him roughly against the concrete floor behind the school and all the air left his lungs at the impact.

“Help!” he tried screaming even if breathless, but it only got him a sharp slap on the cheek.

“Shut up!” Rumlow growled, a few drops of spit hit Tony’s face. He was shaking now, and his cheek was throbbing, but he was scared that if he moved, he would get slapped again. Or worse.

“Your stupid boyfriend can’t hear you,” some other guy said.

They were crowding him against the wall now, cornering from every side. His last thought before it started was whenever they’d spare his face.

-

They didn’t.

Rumlow and his friends left before the third block started, laughing at Tony’s pitiful state as tears and snot pooled around his lips, mixing with the blood from cuts.

He shook, feeling like a thin string that got severed hundreds of times in different spots until it was nothing but a pile of distressed wool. It was so strange, the mixture of feeling numb, and pain washed over him like crashing storm waves.

His muscles gave out, aside from the constant shaking, Tony couldn't move them. His arms, his legs, his stomach… they made sure to kick it all. Multiple times.

“That’s what you get for getting close to that freak.” Rumlow had stated time and time again in between kicks.

Tony sobbed, which turned into a wet painful groan as his chest contracted. There wasn’t an inch on him that wasn’t burning up. He wanted to close his eyes, but knew that with how swollen they were, it would hurt even trying. So he didn’t. Didn’t move for what felt like an eternity, and then some more.

Lunch break was due sometime now, and he felt his phone vibrating on his back pocket with countless new messages. Probably from Bucky and Steve. Were they worried?

No.

Tony wasn’t going to think about them now. N-not now.

The sun was too bright still and the sky too blue, he wanted it gone. Tony rolled to his side, letting a new wave of tears fall from his burning eyes as a new explosion of pain ran through him. He bit his lip to stop him from moaning in agony, ignoring how he accidentally opened the healing cut and more blood oozed out of it.

After a few times trying, he managed to stand. He felt dizzy, his vision blurry and he sure looked a sight. But he just wanted to get out of the sun. He needed-- he needed to go back to his project.

The school’s back door was open to his luck, and he slipped inside, happy to see that the corridors were empty still. Limping, he got to the lab and collapsed, wincing in pain, on his chair.

He was over sensitive because of the new bruises and cuts, but he tried to ignore that, ignore everything aside from the buzz in his brain demanding him to focus on anything, everything. Shakily, he picked a memory card from the drawer and placed it over the table without breaking it.

Tony would have to be very careful about it, any mistake would cause the card to short circuit and he would have to assemble a new one from scratch. Delicate work, yeah, he could do that. Yup. He could.

He…

“Fuck this!” he said, regretting it as his throat felt raw and dry. Tony was desperate to do anything, why couldn’t he?

Anything!

He threw the tweezers to the other side of the room. His skin felt too tight, his breath too shallow. Damn the tears in his eyes! How could he focus on  _ anything  _ if he kept crying?

An anguish filled high pitched noise escaped his throat and he held himself against the table for balance. He wanted to scream, but it would hurt. He wanted to hug himself, but again, it would hurt. He wanted…

He wanted.

Just as it began, his desperate fit left him quickly, and soon he was staring at the white table, numb again, always numb.

The sun was still out, the sky was still blue, the day kept going and marching on even as he stood brokenly in the lab, tears, sweat, snot and blood staining everything he touched.

Hours must have gone by, maybe minutes, Tony wasn’t sure. Was he even breathing anymore? Maybe his lungs were broken. His vision was still blurry and the sounds around him too loud. What sounds did an empty physics lab make, anyways? Didn’t matter, it was loud.

Loud thuds, that’s what it was. Loud thuds coming from somewhere. It felt like he was submerged in water, everything sounded muffled and far away. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t breathing.

“Tony!” a voice screamed desperately and just like that he was brought back to reality. His head snapped up so fast he winced in pain.

“Tony,” another voice said, also desperate. Through the blurriness of his eyes he managed to make out Bucky and Steve approaching hurriedly. He stiffened, his hold on the table growing stronger.

“That  _ son of a BITCH! I knew  _ he was looking too smug for some sick reason.” and Tony flinched at Bucky’s harsh words.

Were they talking about him? Oh god, what else had he done wrong?

“Hey, Tony, love, no. Hush,” a hand started comforting him by petting his hair. It hurted, but not as much as the rest of his body. Steve continued, “stop shaking, we’re sorry for screaming.”

Tony nodded and tried to do as Steve said, closing his eyes, even though it hurted, to focus better. A sob rose from his chest, too wet. Maybe there was blood mixed in it. Tony shrinked, trying to make himself as small as possible, because  _ now _ they were here, and seeing him pathetically and beaten up. Broken.

More hands started petting him, helping him out of his clothes. He wanted to help them, but his arms were heavy and he felt numb. Numb numb numb.

“We just want to check if you have any bad bruises, okay, doll?” Bucky asked gently.

Tony nodded, or, let his head fall forward as they fussed over it. He heard Steve hissing empathetically once they looked at the mess his stomach was.

“I’m going to kill Rumlow.” Bucky stated cooly, which reminded Tony too much of his aggressors, so he tried to flinch away.

“Let’s talk about that later, yeah? Now let’s focus on helping Tony.” Steve said with a soft voice.

Help him.

What a joke.

Tony let them take care of him, clean most of the bad cuts and dried up blood with the tools from the first aid kit. Their gentle hands against his throbbing skin felt like a balm, soothing some of the pain away.

But it overwhelmed him.

“There, I think we’re done for now.” Steve manages a tiny smile and Tony wanted to scream.

Weakly, he pushed Steve’s hands from his shoulders and his heart almost broke at the sad expression on Steve’s face. His lips trembled as he opened his mouth tentatively but no sound came out.

He took a shaky breath, looked from Steve to Bucky and a new wave of tears threatened to fall. He forced himself to speak, even though his voice was rough and small.

“You weren’t there.”

His tears fell.

Steve’s face broke like he had just been punched countless times on his gut, and now that Tony knew how that felt, it was a close comparison. Bucky, on the other hand, froze.

They didn’t come to save him. Tony didn’t know why he expected it, but he had hoped, kick after kick, that they would show up and end prematurely whatever sick revenge Rumlow craved. But they didn’t. Could Tony really blame them? They didn’t know, they couldn’t have. But still.  _ Still. _

“I’m so so _ rry,” _ Bucky’s voice broke as he spoke. His cheeks were shiny with tears, Tony noticed when Bucky moved his face down, gripping his hair with both hands, “I should have known that bastard was up to something, I should have. Tony, doll, love, I-I’m sorry. Forgive me.” he sniffed and squeezed his eyes shut, scolding himself.

“I- I wish we could go back in time, Tony. I’m so sorry.” Steve sobbed, tears also streaming down his face.

And as they sat on the cold floor, crying out of guilt, pain and hate, as they left sweet kisses, reassuring kisses on his temple, on his hands, on his head, Tony knew he forgave them already. 

* * *

“Don’t leave me, please,” Tony said that morning, and Bucky almost conceded. His voice was still rough and raw, enough to light up the fury Bucky had been brewing since yesterday after finding Tony in his lab.

He closed that line of thought. Remembering Tony’s state wasn’t going to do him any good, not now. If it weren’t for Steve, Bucky would have scared Tony away for not keeping his anger in check yesterday, and he couldn’t lose it again. So instead, he let out a soft sigh and kissed Tony’s fingers delicately, doing his best not to hurt him.

Tony had taken a bath when they arrived at his house that evening. They’d contacted Pepper and James to explain the situation and go to Tony’s house before them to warn Tony’s mom of what went down. It wasn’t a pleasant assignment, but they did it wonderfully.

Maria had been furious when the three arrived. Not at them, but at the school for letting that happen. After they assured her they would take good care of Tony, she left, banging doors, to deal with this mess directly with the school and Rumlow’s parents.

Who knew what good that would do, but at least she had something to focus on.

“James will be here with you, sweet thing,” Bucky assured him with a smile, and placed Tony’s hand back to his bed.

“But I want you to stay,” Tony whined as his eyes filled up with tears. He was on pain meds, strong ones, and that made him emotional. But to be completely honest, Bucky wanted to cry too.

“Tony,” Steve breathed out, crouching next to Bucky, “you know why we gotta do this. We’ll be back as soon as it’s done, okay? We promise.”

Tony’s lips were trembling, overwhelmed with emotions as he looked at them before closing his eyes and nodding once.

“We love you, doll,” Bucky added as a reminder, “It’ll just be an hour or so.”

“I…” Tony hesitated, and Bucky and Steve waited patiently, “I love you guys too.”

They closed Tony’s door with a small click, and when they went down, James was waiting for them.

“Break a leg,” he said. And Bucky knew he meant literally, so he smiled wickedly.

Now that Tony wasn’t anywhere near, Bucky’s rage came back in full force. His mouth was a tight thin line and his fists were ready to punch.

“I’m planning on it.” he managed to say over the constriction in his throat.

-

Nat, Pepper, Clint and Phil were waiting for them on the school grounds already, all of them looking deadly in their own manner. Not a single one of them felt the slightest bit guilty for skipping classes that day, and Bucky found he appreciated it.

He interlaced his fingers with Steve’s. Hiding their relationship now, at this point of the marathon and with everything that was happening, felt pointless to them. And if anyone noticed, they didn’t say a word about Bucky holding Steve’s hands for dear life. He kinda had to, it was the only thing stopping him from ending Rumlow at that moment.

Sam arrived a few minutes later and joined them. He had a pained expression on his face, one he had also seen on Steve’s. It looked like a mix of disappointment and guilt, probably for believing too much in his teammates.

He looked pointedly at their linked hands and raised a silent eyebrow to Steve, who in turn shrugged.

“Let’s find this son of a bitch.” Steve said instead, and they all followed. It was magical, seeing his friends all come together without a fight under Steve’s command. It looked like something out of a movie, if you asked Bucky. Still, it was sick that they only came together because of what happened to Tony. He wished it had been under different circumstances… 

They found Rumlow skipping class with some friends at the football pit. Bucky wanted to punch the smugness out of all their faces as they turned around, looking at them.

“Aw, look at that,” Rumlow mocked as they approached, “Little Stark sent an army in his place.”

“Don’t  _ call _ him that!” Steve warned.

“Oh yes,” Rumlow tapped his finger against his chin, “now that I think about it, Stark did say something like that yesterday. He much prefered being called ‘cock sucker’.”

Bucky lunged forward but Steve held him back. His patience was growing thin the more that bully spoke.

“Steve, Sam, I can’t believe you guys sided with these freaks to protect a random nerd,” he snorted. Steve stiffened.

“Tony is my--” Steve broke.  _ Boyfriend, _ Bucky knew that that was what Steve wanted to say, but he wouldn’t. To their friends, maybe, but to Rumlow? Never. He didn’t deserve to know. So Steve corrected himself, “Tony is my friend, and you guys are sick if you think what you did yesterday was okay.”

“What  _ isn’t _ okay is how I got expelled from the team for no reason.” Rumlow spit out.

“No reason my ass, you obtuse overgrown raisin,” Clint shouted.

Rumlow sneered at him but didn’t comment, turning to face Steve again.

“I thought we were also friends, Steve.” The sound Steve made at Rumlow’s words was almost comical. 

“I’m not friends with bullies, I thought you knew that.”

“I’m not a bully, that Stark shit deserved that.”

And that was it. That was all it took for Bucky to lose his composure before he lunged, this time successfully at Rumlow. It was pleasant to land a punch on that bastard’s face again, that stupid, dick’s face.

From the corner of his eyes he saw Phil, Clint and Nat joining him into action, taking down two of Rumlow’s friends easily. He smiled, these idiots had no chance against them.

Fuck them,  _ fuck them _ for what they did to Tony. Bucky banged his knee against Rumlow’s gut, who recoiling in pain.

“Take that, you fuck,” Bucky celebrated as Rumlow fell to the ground. He was turning to join the others when something caught him by his ankle and he dropped with a yelp.

Rumlow hauled himself over Bucky and rolled them on the grass. Punches and kicks were thrown in every direction. Damn, he thought he would get out of this without sporting a black eye…

Someone pulled Rumlow off of Bucky then, gripping his jacket tightly and throwing him carelessly to the side. Standing over Bucky was now Steve, lips parted with fresh cuts, hair disheveled, but looking just as glorious as ever. He extended a hand, which Bucky took without hesitating.

“Give up, Rumlow. Collect your passed out friends and get the hell out of here,” Steve spat, and that’s when Bucky noticed they’ve managed to knock most of them out, and the ones still standing had their hands raised in truce.

But Rumlow shook his head and rushed over them, fist already high, ready to punch. Steve only sighed and slapped Rumlow’s ear strong enough to make him fall bonelessly to the ground.

“...What?” Steve asked when he noticed everyone was looking at him in shock, “It’s a self defence move.”

“Remind me to never cross you, doll,” Bucky’s body shook.

“That would never happen,” Steve smirked and winked at Bucky.

“Okay, as much as I’m  _ thrilled _ I finally know who Steve’s mysterious boyfriend is, maybe we should get out of here,” Sam voiced everyone’s thoughts, “Tony’s waiting for us.”

Bucky straightened, sobering up from the high of their victory, remembering Tony awaited them.

“You’re right. Let’s go.”

-

Tony was sleeping when they arrived, so they decided to crowd his kitchen while they waited.

They told James what went down in the football pit, about Rumlow and his friends, but decided to leave out the part when/where they bad mouthed Tony. There was no reason to get angry anymore. James sighed, massaging his forehead.

“At least he won’t be able to retaliate anymore.”

Bucky frowned.

“What do you mean?” Pepper asked, beating him to the question.

“Ah, yeah, so,” he cleared his throat, excitement dancing in his eyes, “Mrs. Carbonell arrived not long after you guys left, seems like she stayed the entire night awake discussing this case with her lawyer, the school, and Rumlow’s parents. She got Rumlow expelled.”

Every jaw in the kitchen gaped open.

“How…?” Steve mumbled.

“Well, did you know she’s a very influential woman? People say Tony’s father is the genius, rich one of the family, but they ignored  _ how much  _ of a genius  _ she _ is. She practically owns the school.”

“She  _ what?” _ Clint asked, unbelieving.

“I  _ know! _ Don’t ask me how that’s possible, but everyone seems to bend over for her desires. She’s a powerful woman.”

“Wow,” Natasha let out, and Bucky snorted. He was sure she’d just found her new role model.

Bucky and Steve exchanged glances. It was good to know Tony had someone to look after him, aside from them, of course.

“So,” Clint cleared his throat, looking at them, “don’t you have something to explain to us, Buck?” 

He smirked, looking at his confused friend. Natasha rolled her eyes next to him, she clearly knew something about this, but didn’t say anything because he asked her so. Bless her.

“I don’t have to explain myself, you little shit,” and he laughed when Clint flipped him, “But I kinda want, just--” he looked at Steve and said, “why don’t we bake first?”

His heart was beating happily for speaking freely with Steve for the first time in front of their friends. The smile Steve gave him told him he felt the same.

“Sure.”

So just when the banana cake was in the oven did the questions started to pour in.

“How long?” from Nat.

“Three years, almost.” Steve answered.

“ _ Three?! _ You managed to keep this a secret for three whole years?” Clint was indignant, “Why didn’t you tell us?” 

“We are not really known for being on the good side of the football players, Clint.”

“Also, I need the scholarship. If the coach finds out, he’d probably do everything he can to take that from me.”

“So, lemme get this right, every time you said you were sick and couldn’t make it to our hangouts, you were actually going out with Steve?” Natasha frowned.

“Yup.”

“Steve always said the same!” that was Sam.

“Congratulations, guys.” Phil said, peaceful, calm Phil. What a good friend he was.

“Okay, okay, stop,” Pepper said, cutting everyone. She was looking at them with a heated glance. Her arms were crossed as she, defensively, asked, “Where does Tony enter into this?”

Ah. Bucky smiled softly. He understood her.

“We both fell in love with him,” he admitted with a self-conscious shrug, “I know it’s not conventional… but we do. I do, Steve does.”

She was still staring at them, although some of the heat was gone.

“You guys better not be messing around with his feelings, cause Tony is the sweetest, most loving and pure hearted person out there.”

Steve nodded next to him.

“We know, Pepper. He is…” he smiled to himself, “he is too good for us.”

“You bet I am.”

Every head snapped to the direction of the voice coming from the kitchen’s doorway. Tony stood there, leaning casually against the wooden frame. He looked better now, well rested. Bucky was happy to know the pain had been subsiding.

“Tony,” he breathed out through a smile.

“Heya, Buckaroo,” he walked closer, resting his head against Steve’s firm body while he studied Bucky’s face, “nice black eye.”

Steve hugged Tony closer and scoffed.

“It suits him, don’t you think?”

“‘Cause he’s an ass?” Tony asked sarcastically. 

“Exactly.” 

“I hate you guys so much.”

“Lies!” Tony gasped, “I can smell it. Actually-- I can smell,” he inhaled deeply, “banana cake?”

And as if waiting for Tony’s finding, the oven clock pinged, informing them the cake was ready.

“Maybe?” Bucky couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, you guys!” he hid his face behind his hands, but Bucky could still catch glimpses of his cheeks burning up, “You didn’t have to.”

“We wanted to, baby,” Steve nuzzled against Tony’s nape, “Your friends helped too.”

Bucky carefully looked at the rest of the group looking at them and was shocked to see their reactions. Some were staring still gaping (Sam and Clint), some were rolling their eyes, (only Nat, to be honest) but mostly they were smiling fondly at their interaction (James, Pepper, Phil). Bucky’s stomach flipped happily with excitement and acceptance.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Summer slapped them all in their faces once it arrived. They didn’t see it coming, but there it was. Longer and warmer days were now at their doorstep, and with it, their graduation.

“Goodbye, you piece of shit,” Bucky mumbled, looking at the frigid walls of his (ex)school. He flipped it with both hands before walking away from it one last time. Steve and Tony were both waiting for him by the parking lot, leaning against Tony’s car. They both looked super hot in their summertime clothes, which was totally unfair for Bucky, because he was sweating too much on his black t-shirt and black jeans.

“Just put on something lighter,” Tony had said.

“Never. It’s our last day. I’ll finish it in style.”

Did he regret it? Yes.

Will he admit it? Never.

He pecked them both on the cheeks once he joined them.

“You did it?” Tony asked, taking Bucky’s hand on his.

“ _ Yes,” _ he threw his head up freely, “I’m done here, we can go.”

They entered Tony’s car and left the parking lot. On their way towards Pepper’s house where they would celebrate their graduation, Tony spoke.

“So, I’ve been talking with my mom about college lately,” he paused, looking straight forward on the road, “And you guys know Harvard is my first option, right?”

“We do,” Steve nodded seriously, but Bucky could see he was biting back a smile. Oh they were so mean to Tony.

“Yeah, so,” Tony nodded, “I- I just want to say, I don’t care much where I end up going. I… I want to go wherever you guys are,” A beat, “so yeah. T-That’s it.”

“...Tony, Steve and I got into Harvard.”

“You WHAT?!” he shouted and almost drove them off the street.

“We wanted to make it a surprise, honey, but yes. We are going to Harvard with you.” Steve explained, almost beaming.

“Oh fuck,” Tony’s eyes went soft and wet. His voice, when he spoke again, was less tense, “I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too, Tony,” Bucky said from the back seat.

“I’m so making my mum get us in the same dormitory.” he didn’t take his eyes from the road this time, but his smile grew brighter.

“Yes, please, make her do her magic tricks to get us a dormitory.” Steve laughed.

Bucky and Tony joined him, laughing contently and happy.

The future looked frightening and full of new mysteries, but Bucky was ready to get on with it, get on with life. He looked at his boyfriends on the front seats and smiled, glad that he would be able to share his future with them.

Hopefully forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;3; look at our boys happy and in love :') Gosh i love them so MUCH!!   
> Thanks to the discord group that always is there to listen to me rambling about AUs like crazy.  
> [Stuckony Discord](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n)| [My Tumblr](https://sparkly-angell.tumblr.com/)


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